Which country in the world has the most dangerous planes that are over 60 years old?

North Korea is truly a unique country for many reasons. For example, one of them is civil aviation. You will not see some aircraft anywhere else in the world, except in aircraft museums, which continue to be used in the DPRK. We are talking about Soviet aircraft, such as the Il-18, which made its first flight back in 1957. All of them belong to the only airline in the DPRK, Air Koryo, serving international, domestic and charter flights. As you might guess, it has a reputation as one of the worst airlines in the world. For example, the international rating agency Skytrax awards it a one-star rating, which means flights are highly dangerous.

Which country in the world has the most dangerous aircraft, which are already more than 60 years old. The Il-18 aircraft of the North Korean airline Air Koryo — is no longer used anywhere in the world. Photo source: wikipedia.org. Photo.

Il-18 aircraft of North Korean airline Air Koryo — It is no longer used anywhere in the world. Photo source: wikipedia.org

The oldest passenger aircraft in operation

DPRK civil aviation currently has 20 aircraft. It must be said that not all of them are museum exhibits. There are quite a few modern models — Tu-204 and An-148. The remaining aircraft are much older, including the Il-62, An-24, Il-76, Tu-134 and Tu-154.

The oldest passenger aircraft in operation. The interior of an Il-18 aircraft owned by Air Koryo. Photo source: livejournal.com. Photo.

The interior of the Il-18 aircraft owned by Air Koryo. Photo source: livejournal.com

But the above-mentioned Il-18, which began mass production in 1958, deserves special attention, and the last aircraft of this model was delivered to Aeroflot in January 1969. Already in the mid-70s, its first write-offs began, and in the second half of the 70s and early 80s, the IL-18 was written off en masse.

It is a passenger aircraft designed according to the design of a four-engine turboprop low-wing aircraft. IL-18 is designed to carry 80–122 people. The maximum speed is 685 km/h, and the cruising speed is 625 km/h.

The oldest passenger aircraft in operation. The cockpit of the Il-18. Photo source: livejournal.com. Photo.

The cockpit of an Il-18. Photo source: livejournal.com

Since 2002, the transportation of passengers on the Il-18 has been prohibited in Russia by order of the Ministry of Transport. Currently, Air Koryo is the only airline in the world that operates this aircraft. True, recently it is giving way to newer cars.

Also a rarity is the An-24 aircraft – a 3rd class turboprop passenger aircraft for short and medium-haul lines. It was produced from 1959 to 1979. True, at present Air Koryo is not the only airline that continues to operate civil flights on it. For example, 20 such aircraft are operated by the Kazakh airline Southern Sky.

The oldest passenger aircraft in operation. International airport in Pyongyang. Photo source: eastrussia.ru. Photo.

Pyongyang International Airport. Photo source: eastrussia.ru

Air Koryo — the only airline of the DPRK

The North Korean company has representative offices and sells tickets in major cities such as Beijing, Shenyang, Macau, Bangkok, Toronto, Berlin, Mexico City, Moscow and Vladivostok. True, regular flights are operated only to Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai and Vladivostok. It must be said that flights between Pyongyang and Beijing are provided not only by Air Koryo, but also by the Chinese airline Air China.

There is only one international airport in North Korea, and it is located in Pyongyang. In 2016, a new building was opened here to replace the old one, built in the 50s. The hall is modern and spacious, but not crowded. North Koreans, as we have already told you, are prohibited not only from traveling abroad, but even from accessing the Internet, so that local residents do not know anything about life abroad.

Air Koryo is the only airline of the DPRK. There are always few people inside Pyongyang airport. Photo source: livejournal.com. Photo.

There are always few people inside Pyongyang airport. Photo source: livejournal.com

There are also not many tourists and people making business trips to the DPRK. Therefore, no more than three or four flights a day are operated from Pyongyang airport, the vast majority of which are operated by Air Koryo.

Air Koryo is the only airline of the DPRK. The airport in Pyongyang looks quite modern. Photo source: eastrussia.ru. Photo.

The airport in Pyongyang looks quite modern. Photo source: eastrussia.ru

Incidents and plane crashes of Air Koryo

Despite the age of the aircraft in operation, in the entire history of Air Koryo, there has been only one plane crash. An Il-62M plane crashed in the mountains of Guinea during a flight from Pyongyang to Conakry (Guinea). There were 23 people on board, all of them died.

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Also a couple of times there were accidents on the runway associated with the plane rolling out of its limits. They happened with newer aircraft — Tu-154B and Tu-204, and all ended successfully. In 1976, a Tu-154B aircraft was seriously damaged on the runway at Irkutsk airport. However, the cause was a Tu-104 plane crashing. There were no casualties on board the Tu-154B. Thus, North Korean civil aviation is actually not as dangerous as one might assume.


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