Aa Flights Suspended Between Venezuela And Usa/arg Next?

[camberiu]

Can you imagine the problem with parts and keeping those things flying. They can't still be flying those things - can they?

Yeah, that should not be a big problem. Aeroflot had a huge fleet of those planes, and when they were retired, they were disassembled and cannibalized for parts. There are plenty of used parts available on the grey market to keep those old Cubana Antonovs, Tupolevs and Illyushin planes flying.

 

[EdRooney]

My first trip to Cuba was on one of those old Cubana Ilyushins. About 5 minutes into our descent to Havana, the entire cabin started to fill with some kind of weird nebulous steam. There were these Norwegian tourists sitting by me who literally started to panic, one of them fighting back tears. Meanwhile, in the seat next to me there was an Italo-Cuban who sat calmly playing crosswords. I made some comment about him being awfully calm, and he told me "Of course; the Cuban pilots are the best in the world." to which I said "that sounds like a pretty nationalistic boast." Not at all," he said "just look at the planes they have to fly, whereas a pilot from the US can sit back with a flask and stick it on auto-pilot, these guys actually have to work."

 

[camberiu]

One of the most used planes by Cubana is the Ilyushin IL-62. This is what the cockpit of that plane looks like.

 

[Joe]

I'd be more worried by the ground crew at EZE trying to keep those old rust buckets flying. And maintenance in Cuba with limited money even to buy spare parts from Russia...

But I always though it was a shame that Russia just abandoned its aerospace industry in favor of Boeing and Airbus... They obviously built a "work-horse" product if it is still flying after all these years.

 

[camberiu]

I'd be more worried by the ground crew at EZE trying to keep those old rust buckets flying. And maintenance in Cuba with limited money even to buy spare parts from Russia...

But I always though it was a shame that Russia just abandoned its aerospace industry in favor of Boeing and Airbus... They obviously built a "work-horse" product if it is still flying after all these years.

As EdRooney described, flying Cubana is not for the faint of heart. Cubana makes Aerolineas feels like Emirates airlines.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

As EdRooney described, flying Cubana is not for the faint of heart. Cubana makes Aerolineas feels like Emirates airlines.

Shall we look at Cubana's safety record? http://tinyurl.com/k5v58zr

 

[camberiu]

Say what you will about Aerolineas, it is (unlike Cubana) one of the safest airlines in the world. The last fatal incident involving Aerolineas happened in 1970. Many on this forum, myself included, were not even born yet.

 

[EdRooney]

Aerolineas Argentinas has also been a lot more successful than Cubana at avoiding state-sponsored terrorism.

 

[wineguy999]

Actually, Cubana is based in the Caribbean.

My point exactly.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Say what you will about Aerolineas, it is (unlike Cubana) one of the safest airlines in the world. The last fatal incident involving Aerolineas happened in 1970. Many on this forum, myself included, were not even born yet.

Austral, of course, does not count: http://en.wikipedia....eas_Flight_2553

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austral_L%C3%ADneas_A%C3%A9reas#Accidents_and_incidents