Russian Il-76 fleet grounded after engine fell off while taking off

Sridhar

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Russian Il-76 fleet grounded after engine fell off while taking off

BY : NOVOSTI

The Russian air force has grounded its mainstay heavylift cargo planes following an accident in which an engine broke off the wing of one of the aircraft just before take off, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. The ministry said that the ban on all flights of Il-76 craft will be in place until experts determine the reason behind Wednesday’s accident and check the fleet’s condition. It was the latest in a string of accidents that has dogged the Russian air force recently and raised questions about the condition of its Soviet-built fleet. It also means that the Russian airborne troops will be grounded until the ban is lifted. The accident happened at the Severny air base outside the city of Ivanovo, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Moscow. One of the plane’s four jet engines broke off after the pilot engaged full throttle in preparation for take off. No one was hurt, a ministry spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with the office policy. The Il-76 has been the mainstay of Soviet and Russian air force since the 1970s. The big plane has four engines mounted under its wings and is capable of carrying 40 metric tons (44 tons) of big cargo, such as armored vehicles.
The Russian air force also has a small number of the world’s biggest An-124 Ruslan transport planes along with smaller and older An-12 turboprop transports, but it relies on the Il-76 for most of its heavylift capability. Earlier this year, the air force announced that it had grounded all its fleet of Mig-29 fighter jets and had to launch costly repairs to make them safe to fly. The move followed a crash in December that occurred when one such plane lost part of it tail section. Officials said the accident had been caused by corrosion.
And in August, two Su-27 fighter jets of the elite Russian Knights aerobatic squadron collided near Moscow, killing the squadron leader. The official probe is still ongoing. Despite a steady rise in defense spending during Russia’s eight-year, oil-driven economic boom, the military has received only a few new aircraft and has had to continue to rely on aging Soviet-built planes.


Russian Il-76 fleet grounded after engine fell off while taking off IDRW.ORG
 

Martian

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On BBC, I think some expert said that Russia is falling apart. He said that Russia's largest dam had a catastrophic accident (see The Sayano-Shushenskaya dam accident - The Big Picture - Boston.com) because Russia does not invest in maintenance or repair. He predicted that we'll keep seeing large-scale accidents come out of Russia.

I wonder if the engine falling off the Russian IL-76 was due to lack of maintenance or repair. If it is then that means that expert-on-Russia was very prescient. The expert also said that Russian oligarchs are rich because they pocket the money that is supposed to be spent on maintenance and repair of Russian factories or mines.
 

bhramos

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yeah martian you are correct,
last time too, the Mig-29 fleet also grounded, but IAF has best maintance ,so the Mig's were not grounded here.
but Russians makes best aircraft but lack maintainance
 

Vladimir79

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It is no secret Soviet built planes or infrastructure are going to need more maintenance. Our problem is we do not buy or invest on new things, rather trying to repair the old. The fact we ground our fleets to check is a big improvement over the past, where we just keep on flying them until more people die.
 

bhramos

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Maintainance is problem for every strong forces,
but in case of India, we operate 30+ different types of planes + Hello's + Fighters, from both Russia and the West.
so we need more maintainance for every other figters, we need different infrastructure ,
so we are aware of it, and give best to it,
even IAF Mig-21 could beat the 4th gen planes of west. may be F-16 B/C too.
 

vijaytripoli

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The problem is not with the Russians BUT with us Indian. i everyday watch these IAF Gajraj,s ( IL-76) at Palam airport (while going for office) standing without shelter . Getting hit by rain ,dust, heat, cold etc which results in a slug & junk formation in there metal bodies.
I always want to ask all of u a ? that why can,t we provide them the shelters to these planes?

chau
 

bhramos

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basically Russian planes are built for rough and tough use,
they can with stand like this things dust, rain or cold,
we cant build such big shelter for every each Il-76.
may be even US dont built shelters for their gaint planes
 

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