At the start of Aero India in early February, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., announced it would make delivery of the first five of the Advanced Light Helicopters sold to the Ecuadorian Air Force using the behemoth Antonov An-124-100.


On the night of March 18th the giant transporter came to the HAL airport to load up. I managed to catch her departure yesterday and hope you enjoy the picture. She is BIG!!! Even with a small Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens she filled more than 60 per cent of the photo frame.


While at the airport I managed to also capture one of the four Indian Air Force owned Embraer ERJ135 derived Legacy 600 Executive Business Jet (IAF tail number K3601, actual registration VU-AVS) coming in to land. A fifth aircraft of this type is owned by the Border Security Force. These aircraft are used to transport VIP passengers. I wonder who came to Bangalore on it?

Also got buzzed by an Ilyushin IL 76 MD of the Indian Air Force. Called Gajraj (King of Elephants) by the Indian Air Force, (IAF tail number K2879, actual registration VU-FGH). The IL 76 MD is a strategic heavy lift transporter very aptly named; she is big and noisy.

Even with its large size, the IL 76 MD Gajraj was dwarfed by the Antonov An-124-100.

Sorry about the heat haze, even at 10:15 AM, it is peak summer at Bangalore.

To get a small appreciation of the An-124's abilities see this video about the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) trains which were transported from Bombardier's Germany facility to New Delhi by the giant transporter.

A huge hat tip to Airliners-India user Aseem for the video link.

Please note, these images are covered by a CC license who terms are at the bottom of this page.

An Antonov AN-12, belonging to Aerolift a cargo operator in Windhoek, Namibia, registration S9-SVN freight flight LFT-1015 from Entebbe, Uganda to Nikolaev, Ukraine with 5 crew on board, had diverted to Luxor (Egypt) due to shortage of fuel. After refuelling the airplane caught fire and burned down while taking off Luxor, killing all 5 occupants.

According to the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority the airplane crashed about 700 meters off the runway at Luxor, while taking off from Luxor after being refuelled for the flight to the Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian aviation sources one engine caught fire, the fire quickly spread to the entire airframe.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Egypt reported, that flight LFT-1015 from Entebbe to the Ukraine via Luxor was performed by an AN-12 registration S9-SVN. All 5 crew were Ukrainian citizens, later this was corrected to 2 Belarus, one Russian and 2 Ukrainian citizens.

A source at Luxor Airport said, that the airplane had diverted to Luxor to refuel due to a fuel leak. Although the crew was aware of the risk of a fuel leak, they decided to takeoff again.

Russian diplomats in Egypt also reported, that the airplane had diverted due to a fuel leak. The crew was advised by mechanics to not take off before the damage was fixed, the commander however decided to depart despite the risk.

Reported by AVHerald