Downed an. — All echelons above the ATO zone are now closed
Why did the An-26 crash in Syria? The Ministry of Defense gives an unequivocal answer to this question: it is impossible that the plane was shot down. At the same time, the militants claim that they fired at him with a machine gun
Russian military transport aircraft An-26. Photo: Interpress/Vladislav Belogrud/Reuters
Jaysh al-Islam, a group banned in Russia, has claimed responsibility for the crash of an An-26 plane in Syria. This was reported by the Lebanese publication Ad Diyar. Could it be that no one in a densely populated area saw that the An-26 was shot down? And how could this happen?
The Ministry of Defense immediately ruled out the possibility that the An-26 was shot down, citing a technical malfunction. A day later, the Jaish al-Islam group, banned in Russia, claimed responsibility. The militants claim that they fired at the plane with machine guns. According to the terrorists, the attack was a response to an operation by government forces in Eastern Ghouta.
Theoretically, using a large-caliber machine gun (for example, a 12-mm) with repeated fire, you can shoot down an airplane during landing, damaging the hydraulics or, for example, fuel tanks. But in practice this is not realistic, says Vladimir Popov, deputy editor-in-chief of the Aviapanorama magazine, Honored Military Pilot of Russia.
Vladimir Popov Honored Military Pilot of Russia“The pilot was descending near the ground, the height was 15-30 meters maximum from the surface of the earth. Less than 1,000 meters from the runway, this is the near drive area. Excuse me, this firing point is not easy to finish shooting there. A heavy machine gun fires at 1800-2000 meters. And the security perimeter is located outside the three-kilometer zone in general. Even MANPADS won't reach there. It is physically and technically impossible to do this. Or you had to be close to the strip, right inside. Well, who will allow it there.”
And yet, if militants fired at the plane, why is there not a single video? Let’s say they didn’t film it themselves, which is strange. But there should have been other witnesses? In Syria, information travels quickly. However, local resident Somar Osman did not hear anything like this.
Somar Osman local resident “I don’t think this is true, because it’s impossible to shoot down in such a place. If they were to shoot down there in some other city, far away, there, 100 kilometers from the airport, we could still talk about it, but in the city of Latakia they cannot operate. This is a territory under state control. The whole city here is, so to speak, pro-government. Don't think. If they could, they would do it repeatedly."
There is also no point in hiding the fact of shelling by the Russian military. At least, whenever our planes or helicopters were shot down, the Ministry of Defense announced this.
The last one to be shot down was a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in the southeast of the Syrian province of Idlib. Pilot Roman Filipov managed to eject. After being surrounded by militants, he blew himself up with a grenade. The pilot was posthumously awarded the star of the Hero of Russia. After the An-26 disaster, people again bring flowers to the Ministry of Defense building. The crash killed 39 people. All are military personnel.
July 14 | 14:36
In the Lugansk region, contact with the crew of the An-26 military transport aircraft was lost.
This was announced by the speaker of the information and analytical center of the National Security and Defense Council Andrey Lysenko, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Meanwhile, Poroshenko announced a change in ATO tactics in Donbass
“Contact with this plane has been lost. Search operations are currently underway,” he told the agency.
Earlier, a source in military circles told the agency: “Contact with the plane was lost. According to preliminary information, it could have been hit by fire.” According to information, there could have been about 20 people on the plane.
Also, the press service of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic reported that a military transport plane had been shot down near the village of Izvarino. According to Russian media, eyewitnesses say they saw several parachutists and cargo dropped from the plane.
07/14/14 14:41 Ukrainian plane was shot down by a Russian missile, - source
The AN-26 plane was shot down while flying at an altitude of 6200 m. This was reported by the source Censor.NET.
After the plane dropped its cargo, a missile was fired at it in the Krasnodon area, presumably from Russian territory.
In terms of fleet losses, this is approximately 1 out of 20 available aircraft of this type (I just processed data on the Ukrainian An-26 and An-24 - I will post it soon), that is, it is not fatal to the combat effectiveness of the transport group. But shooting down an airplane can sharply limit such supplies to the surrounded units and worsen their already unhappy situation, which is a definite plus.
The An-26 was from the 456th transport air brigade (Gavrishovka, Vinnitsa, military unit A-1231)
The crew consists of 7 people, 5 jumped out, and Ukrainian rescuers already have contact with 4.
Based on the fact that the An-26 belongs to the 456th brigade, its number was blue. From the photos, only “19” fits. 
A colleague posted a new photo, judging by the color of the fuselage, most likely it is “19 blue”. The arrow indicates a small piece of the blue number. 
There were 8 people on board the plane - 7 crew and one person accompanying the cargo. According to LPR reports, several pilots were captured. However, there is no confirming video yet.
Well, the Ukrainian security forces continue to “anneal”:
The Ukrainian An-26 military transport plane, shot down by separatists near Lugansk, was transporting food and water, said ATO spokesman Vladislav Seleznev.
As he said in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine, the plane was supposed to deliver food to checkpoints.
There were 7 crew members and one accompanying cargo on board the plane, Seleznev also said.
According to the ATO spokesman, the plane was flying at a safe altitude. “The reasons for the fall are being clarified, the rescue operation continues,” he said n.
The story about dropping cargo by parachute from an altitude of 6200 meters does not inspire confidence in me. In this way, you can supply a city with a decent territory, and not a checkpoint. So most likely the plane descended before the reset and received an “Igla” in the engine.
Another example of professionalism was delivered by the X-24 air-to-air missile :)
The National Security Council of Ukraine blamed Russia for the downing of the AN-26
14.07.2014 18:58
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine places the blame for the downing of a Ukrainian An-26 aircraft earlier today on the Russians. This was stated at a briefing on July 14 by the speaker of the National Security and Defense Council information center Andrei Lysenko, reports a REGNUM correspondent. "The plane was shot down at an altitude of 6500 m. Not a single one anti-aircraft missile system, which the militia has at its disposal, cannot damage the aircraft at this altitude. The An-26 was damaged by another, more powerful weapon, probably from Russian territory,” Lysenko said.
He emphasized that at the moment the Ukrainian military has two versions of what happened. “Based on the data transmitted by Ukrainian pilots, two versions are being considered: the shot was fired from a modern ground-based missile and gun complex “Pantsir” or by an X-24 air-to-air homing missile from a Russian aircraft, which could have been lifted into the air from the airfield Millerovo," Lysenko said.
According to him, there were 8 people on board, the crew members had already contacted the General Staff. In addition, Lysenko denied information about one of the crew members of the downed An-26 being captured by the militia..
Details.
According to the Investigative Committee, the plane was performing a scheduled flight over Syrian territory. According to preliminary data, he collided with the ground 500 m from Khmeimim airport. Upon the fact of the crash, a crime was initiated on the grounds of a crime under Art. 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of flight rules or preparation for them, resulting in grave consequences). This is a standard article for such cases, notes flight safety specialist Alexander Romanov.
At the time of the disaster at the Khmeimim base in Syria, Valery Gerasimov, sources told RBC in the Ministry of Defense. According to one of them, Gerasimov was not on board the crashed An-26.
The An-26 is a military transport aircraft equipped with two turboprop engines and one turbojet. The aircraft's carrying capacity is 5,500 kg, and its cruising speed is 435 km/h. The aircraft is designed to transport cargo on short and medium-haul lines. Can be used to transport passengers.
“A situation typical for An-26”
In the Russian Air Force, the An-26 is the main vehicle, and also participates in search and rescue operations. “This is a fairly common and reliable aircraft. It is quite comfortable and easy to operate,” former military pilot Vitaly Sokolovsky told RBC.
“From experience I can say that the An-26 is a reliable military transport aircraft. He has excellent specifications. And before takeoff, it must be checked. In any case, it’s too early to say anything while hot on the trail. Before giving an opinion on the causes of the disaster, it is necessary to conduct an examination and comprehensively investigate what happened,” said former commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Bondarev.
Meteorological conditions could not have influenced the development of the catastrophic situation in Syria, leading specialist at the Phobos weather center Evgeny Tishkovets told RBC. “The actual weather conditions in Latakia [are]: 9 points in the upper and middle tier, clouds over 2.5 thousand meters high, visibility 15 km, south-east wind near the ground, weak, 4 m/s. There were no dangerous phenomena observed in the area of the airfield,” Tishkovets explained.
Military expert, reserve colonel Andrei Payusov believes that the cause of the accident could have been the human factor.
The An-26 is a small plane, Payusov recalled. Usually, before takeoff, the flight technician seats passengers evenly along the sides, and bags and cargo are placed in the center - otherwise, as a result of imbalance, the car may fall onto the wing, Payusov explained. “The plane’s speed is low, about 450-500 km/h, depending on the wind direction. This is on the marching section at an altitude of 5-7 km (these altitudes are also recommended for military aviation flights in Syria to prevent damage to MANPADS). And when landing, even less - 120-150 km/h. You must understand that 500 m from the runway the plane is landing almost flush to the ground, and even if both engines fail, it will glide and land on its belly. Of course, the landing gear will shatter into pieces, but the plane itself should not suffer significantly, especially at such low speeds,” the expert said. Perhaps, Payusov says, the plane landed with an “Afghan approach,” that is, almost vertically, and the pilots were unable to keep the plane above the ground during the final segment. Or, he admits, the pilot was for some reason forced to maneuver sharply just before landing, and the engine thrust and speed were no longer enough for the maneuver.
An-26 (Photo: Vitaly Ankov / RIA Novosti)
Experts in the field of military aviation interviewed by RBC also do not rule out the possibility of a technical malfunction. When weather conditions allow maneuvering, a technical malfunction of the aircraft is considered as a priority, Sokolovsky told RBC. “In this case, there could be several technical malfunctions - failure of the control system, failure of the fuel system and failure of the navigation devices,” he said.
The turboprop An-26 often experiences engine failures, says RBC's source - a pilot who flew the An-26 in a combat zone. “If an engine failure occurs during pre-landing movement, the pilots activate the feathering system, which allows them to land in gliding mode,” the pilot said. When the propeller “becomes a weather vane,” it rotates freely under the pressure of the oncoming air flow, without creating resistance. But if it is not possible to move the propellers to this position, “the plane may not have enough altitude to reach the runway,” noted RBC’s interlocutor.
If, during landing, in the event of a failure of one of the engines, the transfer of the corresponding propeller to the feathering mode occurred with a delay, then this could lead to disaster, says Honored Military Pilot, Major General Vladimir Popov. “The speed is already low, and the ground is close, any roll of the plane can lead to disaster,” the pilot is sure. “This is a typical situation for the An-26,” Popov noted.
According to Sokolovsky, the current An-26 crash and the incident in the Moscow region, where the An-148 crashed on February 11, cannot be compared. “These are two completely different aircraft - they have different navigation and flight systems and engines,” he explains.
Video: RBC TV channel
Loss after withdrawal of troops
Russia began its military operation in Syria in September 2015. At the end of December 2017, President Vladimir Putin withdrew from Syria. After this, the militants carried out several attacks on Russian military installations and forces. In particular, on New Year's Eve, terrorists used eight drones. Another UAV attack on the night of January 6th. The target of the attack was not only the Khmeimim base, but also the Navy logistics center in Tartus. On the evening of February 3, in the province of Idlib, a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft, pilot Roman Filipov, ejected, but died during a battle with terrorists on the ground.
The largest accidents of military transport aircraft in last years
June 7, 2017 Myanmar Armed Forces Y-8 aircraft, heading to Yangon, crashed into the Andaman Sea. There were 122 people on board, all of whom died. More than half of the dead were civilians - family members of military personnel. It was reported that the cause of the disaster was weather conditions.
March 15, 2016 transport aircraft IAI Arava Ecuadorian Air Force crashed in the Amazon basin in the east of the country. There were three crew members and 19 parachutists on board - all died. The causes of the disaster were not stated.
June 30, 2015 Indonesian Air Force transport aircraft Lockheed KC-130B Hercules crashed shortly after takeoff from Medan on the island of Sumatra. The 122 people on board, mostly military personnel and members of their families, were killed. As the plane crashed into residential buildings, at least 20 people on the ground were also killed. The cause of the disaster was said to be a technical malfunction.
January 17, 2015 An-26 Syrian Air Force, carrying military personnel from Damascus, crashed during landing at an airfield in Idlib province. 30 people died. The militants claimed that they shot down the plane, but the official version was that the crash occurred due to heavy fog.
On June 15, 2014, near Lugansk airport in eastern Ukraine, he was shot down Il-76 Ukrainian Air Force. 49 people died. The self-proclaimed LPR militias took responsibility. In October 2017, the head of the SBU, Vasily Gritsak, accused the private military company (PMC) of Dmitry Utkin, known under the call sign Wagner, of destroying the plane.
February 11, 2014 military transport aircraft Lockheed C-130H-30 Hercules Algerian Air Force, carrying military personnel and members of their families, crashed in the northeast of the country. Only one person out of 78 on board managed to escape. The causes of the disaster were not stated.
At half past one on July 14, contact with the crew of the An-26 military transport aircraft was lost, the ATO press center reports on its Facebook page: “The reasons are being checked, a search and rescue operation is underway.”
Interfax gives more details about the possible crash of the plane, reporting that according to preliminary data, the plane could have been hit by fire.
About an hour ago, militia using MANPADS shot down a military transport plane of Ukrainian forces... The plane crashed near the village of Dolzhano-Nikolsky, Interfax wrote. With reference to eyewitnesses, the agency notes that “they saw paratroopers and cargo dropped from the plane.” The An-2 could have contained about 20 people.
At the same time, in comments on Facebook they write that the plane could have been hit by fire from the forest belt near the Shidna mine (Krasnodonugol State Enterprise).
OFFICIALLY
The Minister of Defense reported to the President of Ukraine that the crew members of the An-26 aircraft, which was performing a task as part of ensuring the active phase of the ATO and was shot down, contacted the General Staff, the presidential press service reported.
According to the Minister of Defense, the plane was shot down at an altitude of 6.5 kilometers. In this regard, he noted that his defeat by portable anti-aircraft systems is impossible, so the plane was hit by another, more powerful missile weapon.
In addition, Geletey does not exclude that the fire could have been fired from Russian territory.
On July 14, after an An-26 was shot down in the Luhansk region, its pilots, who managed to eject, got in touch and spoke about the incident. It is believed that seven people were inside the plane. Five of them managed to jump out. Four even got in touch.
Shot from the air?
According to preliminary data, the plane was shot down by an air-to-air missile, i.e. the fire came from a fighter plane.
However, this information must be verified. What is known is that the attack occurred from the Ukrainian-Russian border, noted the headquarters of the anti-terrorism center.
EXPERT: A 4-KILOMETER ZONE IS NEEDED
To avoid being shot down, it is necessary to clear the areas near the airfield,” President of the Atlantic Council of Ukraine, Major General Vadim Grechaninov, told Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine. – When a plane lands, it becomes very vulnerable. Therefore, the armed forces need to secure the territory along the aircraft’s glide path, which is four kilometers. To do this, you need to install air defense systems and reinforced security.
Indeed, most cases of loss of anti-terrorist operation aircraft equipment occurred during descent and landing. According to Grechaninov, the ATO command nevertheless does nothing to protect the airfields.
The reason for this is the negligence of the command and lack of funds, the expert said.
HELP "KP"
An-26 (according to NATO codification: Curl - “Whirlwind”) is a Soviet military transport aircraft developed at the Antonov Design Bureau. It is a modification of the original An-24 model. Thanks to the large opening width of the cargo hatch (2.4 m) and the installation of a special ladder door, convenient loading is possible both from the ground and from the vehicle body, which significantly speeds up and facilitates loading and unloading operations. The An-26 is equipped with two AI-24VT turboprop engines and one additional RU-19A-300 jet engine installed in the right nacelle of the main engine.
TRAGEDY DAY TO DAY
A month ago - on June 14 - there was a similar tragedy near Lugansk. LPR. The plane was carrying cargo, weapons and a change of soldiers to Lugansk airport. But he didn’t make it - he was shot down during landing. In a plane crash
Let us remind you that on July 2, around 11.20, at the Dnepropetrovsk airport. The pilot ejected and survived.
Lugansk residents spent the night in cellars. The shooting has not subsided since Sunday. Volleys are heard in the Kamennobrodsky district, on the central streets of the city and in the Artemovsky district. Due to daily fighting between LPR forces and Ukrainian security forces, many shops and businesses have closed indefinitely. The passages in the city center, which were previously always crowded with people, are empty.
“It’s unclear how we can continue to live in such conditions.” I worked in a clothing store in the city center, because of the long battles, the director told us to go on vacation at our own expense. Sales don't pay for themselves. I have a family, children, how can I feed my child? Moreover, they shoot every day, such explosions that the windows shake. Most likely, we will have to leave the city and look for work in another city,” Alina, a local resident, told Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine.
The situation in the city is critical. Every day, about three to four families are left without a roof over their heads. On the morning of July 14, one of the shells hit a residential building on Barbussa Street and a residential building in the Mirny quarter.
The façade of the buildings and the roof were smashed; glass in the apartments was broken from the powerful explosion. School No. 51 was also damaged during the battle on July 13. The body of a woman was found near the building. According to eyewitnesses, the person on duty at the school during the shooting wanted to hide in the school basement, but a shell fell near her. The woman died on the spot.
AT THAT TIME
Residents of the shelled outskirts of Donetsk:
The onset of the war in Donetsk has been frantically awaited all week - since last Saturday, when thousands of armed supporters of the "DPR" descended on the city with all their equipment - tanks, armored personnel carriers and even a Nona launcher. The uninvited guests hid for several days, but on Thursday they began shelling the airport. It was quiet on Friday. And on Saturday evening, after many hours of shelling of one of the districts of Donetsk, the authorities announced: there were at least 6 dead and 8 wounded. Unofficially they spoke of about 30 killed.
DONETSK, July 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Militia of the proclaimed Donetsk people's republic(DPR), an An-26 military transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down near the city of Torez. This was reported by eyewitnesses from the scene.
According to them, the plane was hit by a missile, after which it began to lose altitude, crashed to the ground and burned out.
Downed An-26 in Lugansk region
On July 14, militias of the proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) also shot down an An-26 of the Ukrainian Air Force. The LPR press service stated that five crew members of the downed plane were taken prisoner (there were eight people on board). The spokesman for the security operation, Vladislav Seleznev, stated that “two crew members” were captured.
On July 15, the Ukrainian armed forces suspended the use of aviation in the areas of the military operation in the southeast of the country.
“In connection with the investigation into the situation related to the crash of an An-26 military transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Luhansk region on July 14, 2014, aviation flights have been suspended until further notice,” read a message on the operation’s press center page on Facebook.
An-26. Reference
The An-26 was created in the mid-1960s at the Antonov design bureau on the basis of the passenger An-24. Adopted by the USSR Air Force in 1968. It was serially produced until 1989 at factories in Kyiv and Ulan-Ude, more than 1 thousand copies were built. It has two turboprop engines with a power of 2820 hp. With. each and auxiliary turbojet power plant. Maximum take-off weight is 24 tons, cruising speed is 440 km/h, flight range is 2.5 thousand km. The length of the aircraft is 23.8 m, the wingspan is 29.2 m. The payload is 5.5 tons, the crew is 5 people. Designed for transportation and landing of cargo on short and medium-length lines. Capable of carrying up to 40 people, it can be used in transport, landing, medical, fire, bomber versions, as well as as a flying command post, flying laboratory, and electronic warfare aircraft. Operated in more than 20 foreign countries. Serially produced in China under the designation Y-7H-500.
