The prototype of the Ilyushin Il-112V military transport plane crashed in a region near Moscow on Tuesday. According to reports, the aircraft had three occupants on board who would not have survived.
A video shows the moment when the turboprop was flying low near Kubinka airport when a fire started in the right engine. Shortly thereafter, the Il-112V tilted to the right and plunged into a forest.
UAC, the holding that controls Ilyushin, stated on its social networks that “during the training flight during the landing approach in the area of the Kubinka airfield in a forest belt, an IL-112V light military transport aircraft crashed. Details of the incident are being specified. To find out the causes of the accident, an appropriate commission will be created.”
The Il-112V is a high-wing twin-engine turboprop developed as a replacement for the old Antonov An-26/32 that are used by the Russian Air Force.
The only prototype had made its maiden flight in March 2019, but remained inactive for two years before taking off again five months ago.
The aircraft was preparing to participate in a military event between the 22nd and 28th, the “Army-2021”, an international military technical forum.
The turboprop is one of the first projects that started from scratch after the end of the Soviet Union. The first sketches are from the 1990s, but the program was stalled for several years until it was given the green light by the government.
The Il-112V can carry up to 5 tons of cargo and has a maximum takeoff weight of 21 tons. Its estimated cruising speed is 500 km/h and autonomy can reach 5,200 km.
UAC intended to deliver the first aircraft to the Air Force in 2023 and says it has the capacity to produce up to 15 aircraft per year.
