Volga-Dnepr airlines is grounding their AN-124 fleet (Update: They're back)

[Asteroza]

Space industry logistics related news...

Looks like the recent [November 13] uncontained engine failure accident of an AN-124 is having repercussions

https://theloadstar.com/exclusive-safety-first-as-volga-dnepr-grounds-its-an-124-fleet-indefinitely/

Which means anybody flying satellites that won't fit through a 747 cargo door is in for a world of hurt. That basically means the available alternatives are getting access to a NASA super guppy, an Airbus beluga, maybe a Boeing LCA, or military like a USAF C-5 or C-17?

[zubenelgenubi: Added incident date.]

[gongora]

Hopefully this won't last too long, almost every large satellite that isn't both built and launched in the U.S. uses those planes.

[matthewkantar]

For those interested in the gnarly details, here is a video (from 11.14.2020) rundown of the accident.

[zubenelgenubi]

Hopefully this won't last too long, almost every large satellite that isn't both built and launched in the U.S. uses those planes.

Re: satellite deliveries: what did their most recent schedule look like?  I know that the probable delivery of Turksat 5A from Toulouse to the Cape would be one of them, as recently discussed in the launch thread.

[russianhalo117]

Space industry logistics related news...

Looks like the recent uncontained engine failure accident of an AN-124 is having repercussions

https://theloadstar.com/exclusive-safety-first-as-volga-dnepr-grounds-its-an-124-fleet-indefinitely/

Which means anybody flying satellites that won't fit through a 747 cargo door is in for a world of hurt. That basically means the available alternatives are getting access to a NASA super guppy, an Airbus beluga, maybe a Boeing LCA, or military like a USAF C-5 or C-17?

If it is only Volga-Dnepr grounding their AN-124's then there are a few other civilian and military providers that fly them and their derivatives. IL-76 fleet is still available.

[zubenelgenubi]

Space industry logistics related news...

Looks like the recent uncontained engine failure accident of an AN-124 is having repercussions

https://theloadstar.com/exclusive-safety-first-as-volga-dnepr-grounds-its-an-124-fleet-indefinitely/

Which means anybody flying satellites that won't fit through a 747 cargo door is in for a world of hurt. That basically means the available alternatives are getting access to a NASA super guppy, an Airbus beluga, maybe a Boeing LCA, or military like a USAF C-5 or C-17?

If it is only Volga-Dnepr grounding their AN-124's then there are a few other civilian and military providers that fly them and their derivatives. IL-76 fleet is still available.

Further from the article:

Where possible, customers that can load cargo onto a 747 will be accommodated and [Konstantin Vekshin, Volga-Dnepr chief commercial officer] suggested former partner and now rival [Ukrainian] Antonov Airlines might be able to support others.

However, he added, Antonov should be conducting thorough investigations into its own fleet of AN-124s.

“I think Antonov Airlines needs to follow our example, under the circumstances. Ultimately, it is their call, of course.”

[Asteroza]

The fact that Volga-Dnepr is not mentioning the IL-76 they operate themselves, as an alternative platform for servicing large load customers beyond the size a 747 can accommodate, might mean there is a reason IL-76's are not considered?

Still, with a private AN-124-100 fleet grounding, and the engine being a common type across the global fleet, there will probably be a type grounding issued soon enough that will cripple other operators as well. Looks like ukranian authorities are ordering intermediate rotor disc checks in the interim.

I remember that old rumor that military cargo aircraft operators sometimes take up odd civilian jobs to increase pilot/loadmaster training hours. I wonder if that will happen for some government satellites? Pure commercial loads probably won't get any help though.

[GClark]

IIRC AMC will carry commercial loads on a reimbursable, NTI basis.

[Star One]

When I was reading about this originally there appeared to be questions being raised over whether this was partly caused by them having trouble accessing spare parts for their fleet.

[Hobbes-22]

The space industry could switch over to the Airbus Beluga: those are available for charter from Airbus Transport International. This accommodates a larger payload diameter than the An-124.
Other industries will have more trouble - the Beluga's weight limit is a lot lower than the An-124's.

[eeergo]

Huge potential impact to satellite deliveries around the world?

https://twitter.com/scramble_nl/status/1331892300155379713

[libra]

The Beluga fleet has just transitioned (or is still transitioning)  from A300-based birds to the new A330 derivatives. So there are more Belugas than before.
Belugas can carry 40 - 50 mt, merely 40% of an An-124. Volume isn't everything, for sure.

[Star One]

What’s stopping people using Ukrainian AN-124’s?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_Airlines

[darkenfast]

What’s stopping people using Ukrainian AN-124’s?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_Airlines

I believe they both use the same engines, and it was an uncontained failure of a fan disk that caused the accident.  I watched the Blancolirio YT on the accident.  There's a lot of energy in one of those disks.  Pieces went right through BOTH sides of the fuselage.  Hats off to the pilots.  They got the plane down with heavy cargo, full fuel (presumably, it happened just after take-off and with no injuries.  They had no instruments, electrical, radio, etc.  Worth watching.

[Nibb31]

The Airbus Beluga fleet probably has some availability with Airbus production slowing down. The A330 Beluga XL

I wouldn't trust the NASA's Super Guppy for a transatlantic flight these days.

[Tomness]

To bad Stratolaunch can't be modified to carry these heavy cargos. At 250 T would  be formidable cargo plane on the side.

[TorenAltair]

It's not about mass for that cargo, it's about volume/diameter. So Stratolaunch for example has no real benefit.

[Asteroza]

Apparently Antonov will still fly their AN-124's, barring a direct airworthiness directive standdown.

https://theloadstar.com/well-carry-on-flying-says-antonov-despite-volga-dnepr-an-124-engine-worries/

There seems to be a subtle dig at Volgna-Dnepr's maintenance ability in that announcement as well...

[kevin-rf]

Btw. For those interested in the An-124 accident that caused the grounding. PPRune.org has a quite detailed thread on it with several pictures containing circles and arrows. (Fragments of the engine tore through the fuselage severing all electrical systems)

https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/636752-124-uncontained-engine-failure-2.html

https://avherald.com/h?article=4df212c7

I read somewhere due to the conflict the Ukraine stopped supporting the aircraft years ago, and they have been living on borrowed time. The An-124 may be grounded for a very long time. So I suspect alternative transportation needs to be found.

[edzieba]

It's not about mass for that cargo, it's about volume/diameter. So Stratolaunch for example has no real benefit.

The VM-T Atlant carried oversized cargo in a dorsal aerodynamic pod (similar setup to the Guppies, but with the hub mechanically separate rather than blended into the existing airframe). Stratolaunch could not only use the same concept of an aerodynamic cargo container, it would be easier to implement due to the split fuselages allowing ground-level attachment rather than a crane (closer to the XC-120). Of course, that would require development & manufacture of the pod, and flight-testing of Stratolaunch with the pod. Generalised cargo oversized load transport is barely able to sustain operations of 40-year-old aircraft, and the only new oversized load aircraft are used by the companies who make them for transport of their own product (Boeing and Airbus's modified craft).

So still no, but for economic reasons rather than technical.