Accidents and Incidents
The An-140 has suffered six major incidents, including four crashes with total loss of life.
On 23 December 2002, an Aeromist Kharkiv An-140 carrying many of Ukraine's top aviation designers and engineers crashed into a mountainside, as it was preparing to land at Isfahan, Iran, killing all 44 on board. The delegation was to have attended the inauguration ceremonies for the first HESA IrAn-140 frame.[16] The probable cause was controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
On 12 August 2005, a Safiran Airlines HESA IrAn-140 diverted to Arak International Airport due to an engine failure. During landing, the aircraft overran the runway and was badly damaged. There were no fatalities. The cause of the engine failure appeared to be technical problems with the fuel control unit. The airframe was eventually repaired in the early 2010s and is to be used by HESA as a test bed for the future versions of the aircraft. After the Arak incident, Safiran Airlines returned its two remaining examples to HESA. These two aircraft eventually found their way to the Iran Police Aviation.
On 23 December 2005, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217, an Antonov An-140 4K-AZ48, plunged into the Caspian Sea about 20 miles north of the capital, Baku. All 18 passengers and five crew members died. The plane was on its way to Aktau, Kazakhstan. [17] Investigations discovered that three independent gyroscopes were not providing stabilized heading and altitude information to the crew early in the flight.[18] The airline grounded its remaining An-140 airplanes, and cancelled plans to purchase more of the type from Ukraine.
On 15 February 2006, an IrAn-140-100 (test registration HESA 90-04) crashed at Shahin Shahr, Isfahan Province, Iran, during a training flight.[19] All 5 pilots on board were killed.[20] The cause was an engine failure during takeoff, which appeared to haven been due to technical problems with the fuel control unit.
On 06 September 2008, a South Airlines An-140 coming from Lviv, Ukraine, suffered a front landing gear failure (stuck inside the aircraft fuselage) during landing at Kiev Boryspil Airport. The aircraft landed on a specially prepared foam track using the two intact landing gears. None suffered any injuries and the aircraft was put back to service in three weeks after a minor repair.[21]
On 10 August 2014, Sepahan Airlines (HESA) flight SPN 5915, crashed on take off from Tehran Mehrabad International Airport. The aircraft was on domestic service to Tabas. According the the initial reports, around 40 passengers and 8 crew members were aboard the aircraft. The airplane broke up and burst into flames. It was described that one wing has separated from the aircraft's fuselage, very shortly after it had taken-off. The aircraft was not very old as it made its first flight in year 2008. Its Registration number was EP-GPA and its engines were Klimov TV3-117VMA-SBM1.
Klimov TV3-117VMA-SBM1
The engine is designed for An-140 airplane and other high-efficiency passenger and cargo aircraft of local and regional airlines.
High-tech development and production have enabled to create the TV3-117VMA-SBM1 engine possessing superior operating performances, dependability, and extensive service life.
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