Is this the most dangerous takeoff ever? This video shows a Russian UTAir Antonov An-24 taking off from what NYCAviation describes as a “swamp in the central Russian town of Bodaybo.”
Struggling to take off amid flying mud a plume of muddy water behind it, Bodaybo’s airport is on the banks of the Vitim River, maybe flooded to create this condition at an otherwise normal runway.
Since 1959, over 1,000 An-24s were built with nearly 900 still in service worldwide. Known as a plane with a rugged airframe and good performance, the An-24 has been used for ice reconnaissance and engine/propeller test-bed.