A prototype of the Russian large aircraft manufacturer Ilyushin crashed during a test flight near Moscow yesterday. All three crew members were killed in the loss of the twin-engine Il-112W – a video (see here) and several private photos circulating on Russian social media show the crash. It could be a crash with consequences.
This is because it could mean a setback for the plans of the Russian Air Force (VKS). The almost 25-metre-long high-wing aircraft for payloads of up to five tons was to be the first Russian development of a lighter transporter after the end of the USSR and was to be a foreseeable alternative and replacement for the outdated and obsolete twin-engine turboprop transporters from the now Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov, the more than 40-year-old An-24, -26 and -32, from 2023. Over 200 of these aircraft are still flying in Russia and the successor states to the USSR.
Engine fire
One of the videos shows how shortly before the crash – the investigation will certainly clarify why – the right-hand of the two turboprop engines burned brightly in the air, which apparently led to a loss of control and uncontrollability. The fatal accident at Zhukovsky has already been confirmed by the Russian aircraft construction conglomerate United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). The victims are said to include long-serving Ilyushin test pilot Nikolai Kuimov, who also piloted the aircraft during its maiden flight in March 2020.
Longer history
The military version of the IL-112 model (IL-112W) and later a civilian cargo version (IL-112T) are planned. Ilyushin and UAC see export opportunities for this in countries of the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Asia and Africa. At the end of the 1990s, the design was still planned as a model as a joint project with India, but in 2010 – before the Ukraine crisis – the project was dropped again and Antonov aircraft were preferred. However, these are now a “no go” and it was only last year that the new Il-112 flew for the first time and two prototypes were produced. At the recently concluded MAKC air show, it was announced that the VKS intends to introduce 62 aircraft.
Another loss for Ilyushin
On August 16, the Ilyushin team suffered another loss: Andrei Yurasov, chief designer of the world-famous Il-76 series of four-engine transporters and Il-78 tankers, passed away after a serious illness, two months before his 60th birthday. Born in 1961, Andrei Vladimirovich spent his entire professional life at Ilyushin after graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1981. Initially as a technician in the flight test department on the Il-76, Il-114, Il-103 and Il-76 and later as head of development and certification testing of the Il-76MF, Il-76TD-90VD, Il-76MD-90A and Il-78M-90A variants, which were later modernized with PS-90 engines.
