MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The chief designer of Ilyushin-76 and Ilyushin-78 planes, Andrei Yurasov, has died in Moscow at 59 years of age, the press-service of the JSC Ilyushin Aviation Complex (an affiliate of the United Aircraft Corporation of the public corporation Rostec) told TASS on Tuesday.
"The chief designer of the Ilyushin-76 and Ilyushin-78 planes Andrei Yurasov died on August 16, 2021 after a grave illness at 59 years of age. All his life he worked at the Ilyushin design bureau," the press-service said. "The JSC Ilyushin Aviation Complex and the United Aircraft Corporation offer condolences to Andrei Yurasov’s family and near and dear ones."
Andrei Yurasov was born in Moscow on October 26, 1961. Upon graduation from the Moscow Aviation Institute, he joined the Ilyushin industrial association, where he worked for more than 34 years to walk up the career ladder from technician to chief designer. The range of his duties included preparations for and flight tests of the whole family of Ilyushin planes - Ilyushin-96-300, Ilyushin 96MO/T, Ilyushin-114, Ilyushin-103, Ilyushin-76MD and Ilyushin-76TD. Starting from 2004 Yurasov guided all work to upgrade the Ilyushin-76 and Ilyushin-78 planes for Russia’s Aerospace Force and civil aviation from the sketch design phase to government certification tests and day-to-day operation.
Ilyushin-76 is one of the world’s most widely used military transport and transport planes. According to the World Air Forces 2021 directory of Flight International magazine, the plane is number six on the list of the most frequently employed military-transport planes. A total of 203 planes of this type are in service worldwide. Ilyushin-78 is one of the most widely used tanker planes. According to World Air Forces 2021 the plane holds sixth place: 35 planes of this type are in operation around the world.