Antonov An-26

Development

Total production

Operational history

Variants

Non-USSR /-Ukrainian versions

Operators

Military operators

• National Air Force of Angola – one An-24 or An-26 operated December 2015.
• Belarusian Air Force – three operated December 2016.
• Cape Verde Army – 3
• Chad Air Force – three in service December 2016.
• 23 Xian Y-7; 4 Xian Y-7-100; includes all types of Y-7 aircraft
• * People's Liberation Army Air Force
• * People's Liberation Army Navy
• Cuban Air Force – operated 17, two in service December 2016.
• Democratic Republic of the Congo Air Force – two in service December 2015.
• Ethiopian Air Force – one
• Ivory Coast Air Force – two in service August 2018.
• Kazakh Air Force – five An-24 or An-26 in service December 2015.; Received one refurbished An-26 from Ukraine on 3 November 2017.
• Kyrgyz Air Force – two donated from Russia in August 2017.
• Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force – one in service December 2016.
• Libyan Air Force – two An-24/An-26 as of December 2016.
• Malagasy Air Force – one
• Moldovan Air Force – one as of December 2016.
• Mozambique Air Force – one as of December 2016.
• Namibian Air Force – one as of December 2016.
• Nicaraguan Air Force – four as of February 2018.
• Puntland Maritime Police Force – one
• Russian Air Force – 104 as of December 2016.
• Russian Naval Aviation
• Border Guard Service of Russia
• Serbian Air Force – two in service, four in reserve as of December 2016.
• Sudanese Air Force – six as of December 2016; at least one used as an improvised bomber
• Syrian Air Force – two as of December 2016; one crashed
• Ukrainian Naval Aviation – two as of December 2016
• Ukrainian Air Force – around 22 as of 2017
• Uzbek Air Force – four as of December 2016
• Vietnamese Air Force – 30 as of December 2016
• Yemen Air Force – six

  Former military operators

• Afghan Air Force – All remaining aircraft retired June 2011. One of their An-26 which defected to Pakistan, is preserved at PAF Museum, Karachi
• Bangladesh Air Force
• Benin Air Force – two
• Bulgarian Air Force – five used from 1984 until 2011
• Royal Cambodian Air Force
• Congolese Air Force – one
• Czechoslovakian Air Force
• East German Air Force
• German Air Force
• Guinea-Bissau Air Force
• Hungarian Air Force – 11 delivered from 1974, last one retired June 2020.

• Iraqi Air Force
• Mongolian Air Defense Forces Command – four

• Lithuanian Air Force – three operated
• Air Force of Mali
• Niger Air Force – one
• North Yemen Air Force
• Pakistani Air Force
• Peruvian Air Force – 22 operated from 1977 to 1993

• Polish Air Force – 12 operated from 1972 to January 2009; retired
• Romanian Air Force – Replaced by Alenia C-27J Spartan before 2017
• Slovak Air Force – Two, retired in 2016, to be replaced by Alenia C-27J Spartan aircraft beginning in 2017.
• Somali Air Corps
• Soviet Air Force – Passed on to successor states in 1991
• Soviet Naval Aviation –
• Tanzanian Air Force – none; retired
• Military of Turkmenistan – ten
• United States Air Force – Operated 2003–2007 by the 6th Special Operations Squadron
• Yugoslav Air Force – 14
• Zambian Air Force and Air Defense Command – four

  Civil operators

• Genex
• Air Bright
• Sadelca
• Servicio Aéreo del Vaupés SELVA
• Aerogaviota
• SAS Cargo Group
• CityLine Hungary
• RAF-Avia
• Valan International Cargo Charter
• Aero Condor
• Amazon Sky
• ATSA
• Cielos Andinos
• Interisland Airlines
• Mosphil Aero
• Exin
• Angara Airlines
• Chukotavia
• IrAero
• Khabarovsk Airlines
• Kostroma Air Enterprise
• KrasAvia
• Polar Airlines
• Tajik Air
• Air Urga
• Antonov Airlines
• ARP 410 Airlines
• Constanta Airline
• Vulkan Air
• SolarCargo

Accidents and incidents

• 1982 Ethiopia. On 14 January 1982, an Ethiopian Air Force An-26 crashed near Addis Ababa, killing 73 Ethiopian, Libyan and Cuban troops.
• 1985 Afghanistan. On 4 September 1985, a Bakhtar Afghan Airlines An-26 was shot down by a SAM near Kandahar, killing all 52 people on board.
• 1986 Mozambique. On 30 March 1986, a Mozambique Air Force An-26 crashed while trying to land at Pemba Airport. All three crew and 41 of the 46 passengers were killed.
• 1987 Viet Nam. On 16 September 1987, a Viet Nam Air Force flight from Ha Noi to Ho-Chi-Minh City crashed at Bảo Lộc while on the approach to Ho-Chi-Minh City, killing all crew and passengers on board, mostly military personnel and their family members.
• 1988 Angola. On 27 April 1988, a Cuban Air Force An-26 was accidentally shot down by Cuban troops stationed at Techamutete, killing all 29 people on board.
• 1988 Pakistan. On 10 December 1988, an Ariana Afghan Airlines An-26 was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force, killing all 25 people on board.
• 1992 Germany. On 27 February, a German Air Force An-26 "52+10" crashed after a hard landing. None of the crew members was injured.
• 1992 Libya. Yasir Arafat's An-26 crashed on 8 April 1992 during a sandstorm. Of the 13 on board, both pilots and an engineer were killed.
• 1994 Bosnia. On 31 July an Air Ukraine An-26B was downed in the northwest of the country, killing all 7 people on board.
• 1995 Angola. On 16 January an Angolan Air Force An-26 was downed by rebel forces in the north of the country, killing all six occupants.
• 1995 December India. On 17 December, terrorist Kim Davy alias Niels Holck from Denmark dropped several tonnes of lethal weapons, ammunition, explosives and triggers by An-26 in Purulia district of West Bengal State of India. The plane was forced to land in Bombay, where his accomplices were arrested.
• 1997 Gogrial: Sudan Air Force Antonov An-26-100 crash-landed in 1997 at the airstrip of Gogrial Airport
• 1999 Nicaragua: On 21 January 1999, a Nicaraguan Air Force An-26 crashed after getting too low on approach and striking a tree near Bluefields Airport, killing all 28 people on board.
• 2003 Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 29 November 2003, a DRC Air Force An-26 crashed during takeoff due to a burst tyre, killing 20 of the 24 people on board and 13 people on the ground.
• 2005 Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 5 September, an An-26B operating on a non-scheduled passenger flight for Kavatshi Airlines struck a tree and crashed on approach to Isiro Airport in Matari, killing all 11 people on board.
• 2005 Republic of the Congo. On 9 September, an An-26B operating on a non-scheduled passenger flight for Air Kasai crashed 50 km north of Brazzaville, killing all 13 people on board.
• The 2007 Balad aircraft crash was a 9 January 2007 airplane incident involving an Antonov An-26 airliner, which crashed while attempting to land at the U.S. military base in Balad, Iraq. The crash killed 34 passengers on board and left one critically injured.
• 2007 Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 4 October 2007 an Africa One-operated An-26 crashed into the Kinshasa neighbourhood of Kimbaseke just after takeoff. 21 out of 22 people on board and 28 people on the ground died. Initial reports indicate a lost propeller.
• 2008 Vietnam. On 8 April 2008 an An-26 crashed during a training mission near Hanoi, killing five Vietnamese military pilots.
• 2010 Exin's An-26B registered SP-FDO made an emergency landing on the Lake Ülemiste on 18 March 2010, close to Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport. None of the 6 crew members was injured. Initial reports indicated failure of one of the turboprop power plants.
• 2010 Exin's ANn26B registered SP-FDP rejected takeoff from Tallinn's runway 08 at high speed when the gear collapsed or retracted during the takeoff roll on 25 August 2010. The airplane skidded to a stop on its belly, no injuries occurred.
• 2011 Gabon. On 6 June 2011, a Solenta Aviation An-26 freighter flying for DHL Aviation crashed in the sea near Libreville, Gabon. Four people on board were rescued and transported to a local hospital, but were not seriously injured.
• 2012 Sudan. On 19 August 2012, an An-26-100 flying for Alfa Airlines crashed on its second approach to the Talodi airfield in South Kordofan, Sudan. All 26 passengers on board and six crew members died.
• 2014 Tunisia. On 21 February 2014, a Libyan military An-26, used for medical transportation, crashed in a farm near Grombalia, 60 km short of Tunis-Carthage Airport, after one of its engines caught fire. The accident resulted in the death of all its 11 passengers: six crew members, two doctors and three patients.
• 2014 Ukraine. On 14 July 2014, a Ukrainian military An-26 transport aircraft flying at 21,000 feet was shot down.. U.S. officials would later say evidence suggested the aircraft had been fired on from inside Russian territory
• 2015 Syria. On 18 January 2015, an An-26 operated by the Syrian Air Force crashed while attempting to land at the besieged Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib Governorate, Syria.
• 2016 Bangladesh. On 9 March 2016, a True Aviation An-26 freighter crashed into the waters of the Bay of Bengal near Cox's Bazar while attempting to return to Cox's Bazar Airport following an engine failure.
• 2016 Sudan. On 30 April 2016, an An-26 of the Sudan Air Force crashed during a landing attempt at Al-Ubayyid. All five crew members died.
• 2017 South Sudan. On 20 March 2017, a South Supreme Airlines An-26 was destroyed by fire after crashing at Wau Airport, South Sudan.
• 2017 Cuba. On 29 April 2017, an Aerogaviota An-26 crashed.
• 2017 Russia, Saratov. On 30 May, a Russian An-26 defense military aircraft crashed.
• 2017 South Sudan. On 28 August 2017, An-26B EK-26006 of Coco Aviation overran the runway at Maban Airstrip and was destroyed by the consequent fire. The crew survived.
• 2017 Ivory Coast. On 14 October 2017, Valan Air An-26, with registration ER-AVB chartered by the French Military crashed shortly before landing at Abidjan, the Ivory Coast capital. Four people were killed and six were injured.
• 2018 Syria. On 6 March 2018 a Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed at Khmeimim Air Base. All 33 passengers and six crew died in the incident.
• 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 20 December 2018, a Gomair An-26 registration 9S-AGB crashed 19 nautical miles short of Kinshasa with 7 or 8 people on board. The aircraft was found more than 24 hours later by a local. The aircraft was carrying election materials on behalf of the Central Electoral National Independent Commission.
• 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 24 December 2018, an An-26 belonging to the Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo crashed as it overshot the runway at Beni Airport in North Kivu province. The aircraft was reportedly transporting troops, and the crash resulted in 38 people being taken to hospital.

  Aircraft on display

• Poland
• * An-26, tail number "1509" is exhibited in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków
• * An-26, tail number "1602" is exhibited in the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. The inside of the aircraft is open to visitors on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on special occasions.
• Germany
• * An-26, tail number "52+04", former East German "375", is exhibited at Technikmuseum Speyer
• * An-26, tail number "52+05", former East German "376" is exhibited at Schwäbisches Bauern- und Technik-Museum, Eschach-Seifertshofen
• * An-26, tail number "52+08", former East German "368" is exhibited at Flugausstellung Hermeskeil
• * An-26SM, tail number "52+09", former East German "369", is exhibited at Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow
• Pakistan
• * AN-26, Afghan Air Force, is exhibited at PAF Museum, Karachi

  Specifications