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An Antonov An-124 landed at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport on 5 October and left today at 5:50am.
YouTuber Zach Clark took footage of the enormous Soviet-era jet touching down in Queensland, while Australian Aviation photographer Lenn Bayliss was on hand to capture the moment it departed.
The Antonov An-124-100, UR-82073 msn 9773054359139, departed Surabaya airport in Java at 5:25am on 5 October as flight ADB3514 and landed in Darwin at 10:49am. Shortly after, it left to continue on towards Toowoomba, where it landed at 12:30pm. It left four days later, on 9 October, at 5:50am.
The iconic four-engine plane, one of the world’s heaviest, was created by Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. It is thought to have a maximum take-off weight of 402 tonnes and a gigantic wingspan of 73 metres.
In June, Australian Aviation reported how an Antonov An-124 Ruslan landed at Auckland Airport to deliver four new engines for Air New Zealand’s 787 Dreamliner fleet.
According to reports, two of the engines were new leases from Rolls-Royce, while the other had undergone maintenance work in Singapore. The plane belonged to Russian charter company Volga-Dnepr Airlines.
Ken
says:Would have been nice to read the reason why it landed at Wellcamp.
Teiemka
says:Any idea why it was visiting Toowoomba?
Alex
says:Antonov Airlines!!
chris robey
says:I’m not particularly interested in why she landed at Wellcamp. Obviously there was a valid operational reason. Enough that she was able to grace the airfield for four days…
Josh
says:Unsure exactly what they were for, but they offloaded several armoured vehicles of a type I didn’t recognise.