All news

Russian Il-76 airlifter makes first Arctic landing on seasonal snow-covered airfield

The plane brought over 80 people and some 3 tons of various cargoes designed for construction and development of infrastructure on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago
An island in the Franz Josef Land Archipelago Semyon Maisterman/Fotokhronika TASS
An island in the Franz Josef Land Archipelago
© Semyon Maisterman/Fotokhronika TASS

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. The crew of the Russian military-transport aviation’s Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO reporting name: Candid) multi-purpose strategic airlifter has for the first time landed at a temporary seasonal snow-covered airfield on Alexandra Land Island in the Franz Josef Land Archipelago in the Arctic, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Thursday.

"The plane brought over 80 people and some 3 tons of various cargoes designed for construction and development of infrastructure on the archipelago," the ministry said in a statement.

The flight was carried out in adverse weather conditions, the statement said. The engineering and technical staff is currently preparing the aircraft for a return flight.

Tags