Experts shared their opinion on the new passenger Il-96-400M: “One of the most reliable aircraft”

“If three engines fail, it can fly on one”

The new modernized Il-96-400M passenger aircraft is being prepared for the first flight, the United Aircraft Corporation reported. The airliner can accommodate up to 400 passengers. We asked a member of the Public Council of Rostransnadzor, former Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR, honored pilot Oleg Smirnov and pilot Vladimir Salnikov, who was the commander of the Il-96-300, to comment on this event.

– The event is really joyful, – says Oleg Mikhailovich Smirnov. – The aircraft developed back in the 80-90s of the last century has returned. It was operated in different airlines, fully justified itself. For all the decades of its operation, this aircraft has not had a single serious flight accident, not a single catastrophe. There are no such planes in the world. And it so happened that at the suggestion of people far from aviation, this plane was completely undeservedly given up. They were cut into pieces and thrown into the landfill. Our aircraft industry was betrayed. Such was the time, and such was the leadership.

According to the expert, under the conditions of Western sanctions, we ourselves have finalized this long-range wide-body aircraft, equipped it with the latest equipment and new engines.

“Now all stages of testing must go through, every part of the aircraft, every engine and all equipment must be certified. And the Il-96-400M will start performing regular flights with passengers on board. I think it will happen this year.

Hopes that the Il-96-400M will be mass-produced and Vladimir Salnikov, who was a pilot and instructor pilot “Il-96-300”.

– As far as I know, the plane is being prepared for two pilots, it is possible that there will not be a flight engineer there, – says Vladimir Salnikov. – This plane is “knurled”. The new Il-96-400M is a modernized one. It has a lengthened fuselage, it has more seats. Updated all systems and equipment. More powerful engines have been installed. As well as domestic flight and navigation equipment of a new generation.

The expert recalls that this is one of the most reliable aircraft.

– No wonder the IL-96 is included in the park of the special flight squad “Russia”, both our president and members of the government fly on it. This aircraft has proven itself from the best side. Although there are still enough people who say that, they say, it is a four-engine, not a twin-engine one, it consumes more fuel. I’m not against twin engines, but four engines, especially when you’re flying over the ocean, it’s a different story. The peculiarity of our aircraft is that in case of failure of three engines, it can fly on one. Yes, in this case it will fly not at flight level, but at an altitude of 1.5 thousand meters. But it will fly and fly to the nearest airfield. The same Boeing-747 also has four engines, but it does not fly at all on one engine. No way.

Vladimir Salnikov draws attention to the fact that the new Il-96-400M is completely made from domestic components.

– In the USSR, when the country was also “behind the Iron Curtain”, we produced all our domestic products. And it was no worse, and sometimes even better. Take, for example, our first jet-powered passenger aircraft Tu-104 or one of the first turboprop airliners Il-18. Now we will wait at the airports for a modernized version of the good old 96th Il-96-400M.