Passengers of a regular civilian flight RD-382 from Irkutsk to the working settlement of Mama, which was carried out on January 22, complained about the airline “IrAero” due to the replacement of the aircraft without notice, reported in the East Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office. According to people, they were transferred to a cargo plane An-26, although a passenger An-24 was listed in the flight. The supervisory authority organized a check.
In “IrAero”, explained, that passengers were transported in an An-26-100 aircraft – a modification of a military-transport aircraft, which was originally designed as a multi-purpose transport aircraft and began to be produced in 1969. “In order to ensure the regularity of flights and to prevent delays in departures or arrivals, the airline reserves the right to replace the aircraft. This is stipulated in the rules,” – said in the airline, emphasizing that this An-26-100 is a “convertible passenger-cargo aircraft” and is officially allowed for passenger transportation (The Moscow Times).
