ATR
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The Italian-French based aircraft manufacturer Avions de Transport Régional (ATR) was formed in 1981, from the consortium formed by Aérospatiale of France (now EADS) and Aeritalia (now Alenia Aeronautica), of Italy.
Aircraft
The ATR 42 and ATR 72 are the two models of aircraft built by ATR. American Eagle®, the regional airline company of American Airlines® under the AMR Corporation®, refers to its ATR 72s as "The Super ATRs". These models are twin-turboprop short-haul regional airliners. The ATR 42 seats up to 60 passengers, while the ATR 72 seats 74 passengers. Both aircraft are operated by a two person crew. The ATR 42 is the initial version and was announced in 1981, making its maiden flight on 16 August 1984; French and Italian approval (certification) followed in September 1985 and the first revenue earning flight was in December of 1985.The ATR 72 is the basic ATR 42 stretched by 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) with modified wings, more powerful engines, greater fuel capacity and other increased dimensions compared with the ATR 42. The ATR 72 was announced at the 1985 Paris Air Show and made its maiden flight on October 27 1988. Exactly one year after that, on October 27, 1989, commuter airline Kar Air of Finland became the first company to put the plane into service.
In April 2000, ATR delivered its 600th ATR, an ATR 72-500 to Air Dolomiti. Customer airlines include Air Bosna, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, Czech Airlines, JAT Airways, LOT Polish Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Olympic Airlines, TAROM, Thai Airways International and Vietnam Airlines.
Development of a 78-passenger ATR 82, which would have been powered by two Rolls-Royce/Allison AE 2100 turboprops, was suspended in early 1996.
Accidents
- American Eagle flight 4184
- On August 6, 2005, an ATR 72 heading from Bari, Italy, on its way to Djerba, Tunisia, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles from the city of Palermo, during an emergency sea landing, killing 16 of 39 on board. The plane was operated by Tuninter, an affiliate of Tunisair, the national airline of Tunisia. The reason for the crash was engine fuel starvation, a contributing reason was the installation of wrong fuel quantity indicators.
Production locations
Alenia Aeronautica’s manufacturing facilities in Pomigliano near Naples, Italy, produce the aircraft fuselage and tail sections. Aircraft wings are assembled at EADS Sogerma Services in Bordeaux in western France for Airbus France. Final assembly, flight-testing, certification and deliveries are under the responsibility of ATR in Toulouse, France.Some of the main fuselage sections for the ATR are produced in China at Shaanxi aerospace facility, Xian.
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Variants
There are six variants of the ATR 42:- ATR 42-200
- ATR 42-300
- ATR 42-320
- ATR 42 Cargo
- ATR 42-400
- ATR 42-500
- ATR 72-200, the original production version
- ATR 72-210, with uprated engines
- ATR 72-500, originally named the ATR 72-210A, with higher weights and improved airfield performance.
- ATR 52C, the first ATR 72 freighter with a large cargo door. Unveiled at Farnborough 2002.
Deliveries
As of March 2003, 685 ATR 42 have been ordered and 306 ATR 72, totalling 676 orders. Of these orders, 655 have been delivered. There are 109 operators of the ATR range (ATR 42 and ATR 72) in 72 countries.
As of March 2001, the ATR 42 aircraft in use broken down by variant were as follows [link]:
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Specifications
ATR 42 specifications are for the ATR 42-500.
- Crew: 2 (pilot + first officer)
- Accommodation:
- * ATR 42: 48 typical, 60 maximum
- * ATR 72: 74
- Max speed: ATR 72: 275 knots (509 km/h)
- Cruising speed: ATR 42: 556 km/h
- Range:
- * ATR 42: 2,965 km
- * ATR 72: 910 nautical miles (1,685 km)
- Wingspan:
- * ATR 42: 24.57 m
- * ATR 72: 27.1 m (88 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: ATR 42: 54.5 m²
- Length:
- * ATR 42: 22.67 m
- * ATR 72: 27.2 m (89 ft 2 in)
- Height:
- * ATR 42: 7.59 m
- * ATR 72: 7.7 m (25 ft 2 in)
- Cargo/baggage: ATR 72: 10.6 m³ (375 ft³)
- Maximum Take-Off Weight:
- * ATR 42: 18,700 kg
- * ATR 72: 21,500 kg
- Powerplant:
- *ATR 42: Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127E (1,790kW) × 2
- *ATR 72-210: Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127 (1,850kW) × 2
Facts and trivia
- Passengers are boarded using the rear door (which is rare for a passenger plane) as the front door is used to load cargo.
- A tail support must be installed when passengers are disembarking and boarding to prevent the nose from rising.
- The consortium has 570 employees. The CEO is Filippo Bagnato.
External links
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Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers
| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |
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