Originally Posted by
guadaMB
Now going into the 250+ people on board: I sincerely don't understand how could all those bodies come into that AC, even if the "double littered deck" was installed.
Those persons were cargoed like cattle. Cannot imagine how could it be programmed...
IL76 is not a pax aircraft. Neither C130 or C17 are. Nevertheless all of them are perfectly capable of carrying troops using a very similar bench arrangement. The question of comfort is not a priority.
IL76 has basically 3 configs for the troops - paradropping mission config carrying ca 120, single deck transport very similar to paradropping ca 150 and double decker transport ca 230-250. All with the seat belts and even an emergency oxygen supply. Why would anyone use it to transport civilians is a question which has nothing to do with aircraft design.
On my memory the only IL76 which was fitted with full cabin of front facing "normal" passenger seats was Iraqi Airways one, don't know how many seats it was. There are also some special configurations to carry 3/4 star generals featuring separately pressurised modules loaded onto main deck but it is not common to see in actual operations with any AF.