Soviet Aircraft Halted by Fire at British Show

A huge Soviet cargo plane aborted takeoff Sunday when flames shot from an engine as Europe’s top aviation event opened under the shadow of last week’s West German air show disaster.

Soon after a Soviet MIG-29 fighter thrilled the crowd at the Farnborough Air Show with precision maneuvers, a blue-and-white Antonov 124, the world’s heaviest aircraft, began its takeoff.

About 10,000 spectators watched from several hundred yards away as a 20-foot sheet of flame shot out of the No. 2 engine.

A pilot cut the other engines and halted the nearly 450-ton aircraft. No one was injured.

No Cause Given

An official of the Soviet delegation at Farnborough said the Antonov 124 “will fly again before the end of the week.” The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give the cause of the mishap.

The 227-foot-long Antonov, with a wingspan of 240 feet and a cargo bay 21 feet wide, was to have given daily demonstrations during the weeklong Farnborough show.

The incident came one week after the Aug. 28 disaster at the U.S. Air Force base at Ramstein, West Germany. Three Italian jets collided during an aerobatics display at a Ramstein air show. One of the planes hurtled in flames into the crowd, killing more than 50 and injuring more than 300.

On Sunday, two MIGs, the first advanced Soviet combat aircraft to take part in a Western display, took star billing.

One of the twin-tailed fighters, painted in camouflage gray, zoomed 3,000 feet into the sky from takeoff and then fell backward, nose still pointing up. The pilot forced the nose down, pulling the aircraft into level flight in a maneuver known as “tail-slide” before the gasping spectators.

Potential Buyers

In a 3 1/2-hour display in clear, balmy weather, West European and American combat and civil aircraft also went through their paces, mainly for the benefit of potential buyers flocking to Farnborough, 35 miles southwest of London.

The display aircraft--from no-frills, short-haul passenger jets to the sleek fighters from West and East Bloc countries--were not allowed to fly above the crowd. Most performed alone.

Air Commodore Dan Honley, speaking for the organizers, the Society of British Aerospace Companies, said the Farnborough safety rules have always been strict and were not tightened after the Ramstein crash.

Aerospace companies regard the display flying as an important part of the sales drive at Farnborough, where the main aim is commerce, not entertainment.

With about 700 aerospace companies from 24 countries taking part in the largest-ever Farnborough show, Honley has predicted that orders will top the record $1.67 billion for the last show in 1986. Farnborough hosts the show on alternate years with Le Bourget airport in Paris.