Next week, on Tuesday 22nd November, a special auction is taking place in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, at 14:30. The Turkish General Directorate of State Airports Authority is going to be auctioning an Ilyushin Il-76, and it is accepting bids starting at 400,000 Turkish lira (US$ 21,500).

The aircraft in question, used for cargo, carries the registration 4L-SKN and is almost 40 years old, having been built in 1984. However, it has not flown for the last quarter of its lifespan.

The aircraft has been in Turkey for over 11 years, parked at Erzurum Airport (ERZ). It arrived there from Georgia, carrying tents as part of an emergency relief shipment following the devastating earthquakes that hit eastern Turkey in 2011 and killed over 600 people.

Erzurum is one of the closest large airports to the region that was affected by the earthquake, and the shipment from Georgia was coming in as part of a wider string of operations: the Georgia-Erzurum air bridge carried donations from numerous countries that donated humanitarian equipment to Turkey at the time.

Why is the aircraft stuck?

The Ilyushin Il-76 has been stuck because it had an incident after landing. It took off from Georgia on 30th October 2011, and it landed at Erzurum Airport at night. However, after landing, it crashed into the wing of another Il-76 from Kirgizstan while it was being towed after unloading its cargo.

The affected area was the cockpit, so the aircraft was immediately rendered unusable, and it was towed to a remote stand at the airport, where it has been parked ever since.

The plan was to conduct a set of repairs that would allow the Ilyushin Il-76 to be returned to Georgia. However, due to issues with the insurance company, this never happened. As a result, the Ilyushin Il-76 remains at the airport in the exact same condition, with its cockpit covered and all the original damage still intact, 11 years later.

As Georgia has not attempted to retrieve the Ilyushin Il-76, the Turkish airports authority is now auctioning it off.

A Russian-made airplane of the North Korean Airlines, Air Koryo, waits on the tarmac at the Pyongyang Airport, North Korea. 08 October 2002
Photo: Getty Images

The Ilyushin Il-76

The Il-76 is a multipurpose four-engine aircraft that was designed to deliver machinery to remote areas. It remains in use across Asia, Europe, and Africa.

It has historically most often been used for military purposes in Russia. However, numerous other countries still use it. The Indian Air Force has 26 of them, while China's People's Liberation Army Air Force operates 17.

Other current military operators of the aircraft are the air forces of Iran, Egypt, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Sudan. The Soviet Union had over three hundred units of the aircraft type in the late 1980s, but these were handed over to various successor states following the USSR’s breakup.

Civil operators use the aircraft too. Various companies in Uzbekistan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Sudan, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Turkmenistan use the aircraft.

What do you think of Turkey auctioning off this Ilyushin Il-76? Let us know what you think of this story in the comments below.

Source: Anadolu