The hatch of the An-26-100 aircraft of IrAero airlines opened right during the flight, when it was flying from the Yakut village of Magan to Magadan. A video of an eyewitness was published by the Mash Telegram channel.
According to the channel, the plane took off on January 9 at 14:00 local time; at an altitude of several kilometers, a hatch in the cargo hold depressurized, the pilots went to land. There were 25 people on board, including the crew, as a result of the incident, no one was injured. Some passengers' hats flew off during the opening of the hatch, Mash clarifies. The traffic police are investigating.
As an aviation expert told The Insider on anonymous terms, according to the video, the rear cargo hatch ramp of the plane opened slightly in the air – the ramp locking system could have failed. Also, due to excess pressure, the ramp could open slightly.
“The reason may be that the resource of the An-24 and An-26 aircraft, even in terms of the calendar service life (40 years), has long ended, and the lock system is malfunctioning. Since there is nothing to replace these aircraft, the Federal Air Transport Agency stupidly extended the resource to 50 years beyond the “laws of physics”, which are not easy to deceive. The project of the Ladoga aircraft from UZGA to replace the An-24/26 is still a paper one, since there are simply no engines for it in Russia. The old, still Soviet-made, An-24 and An-26 are the basis of our local airlines, and there is nothing to replace them. For more than 20 years, the UAC has not been able to certify the Il-114 (still of Soviet design) and establish its mass production.
An-26-100 passenger aircraft converted from An-26 was put into service in 2000. In March 2022, airlines warned of the risk of stopping flights on the An-24 and An-26, in particular, the problem was identified by the CEO of IrAero airline Yuri Lapin in a letter to the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. After the closure of the Rostov Civil Aviation Plant No. 412, only one enterprise is capable of repairing engines for the An-24 and An-26, however, due to the war in Ukraine, it is “loaded with defense orders.”
“This means that all aircraft of the An-24 and An-26 type, available in Russian airlines, will stop in a maximum of five to six months,” he warned.