Hyderabad landing was the best so far, says AN-225 pilot

Hyderabad: The AN-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft, took off from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport shortly after 1.30am early Saturday, after a historic 24-hour technical halt here.

It was a smooth landing when the big bird - carrying 130 tonnes of cargo — arrived on Thursday, using over 3,600 metres of RGIA runway. Hyderabad was picked for its ability to accomodate the aircraft and chief pilot Antonov Dmytro was mighty pleased. In fact, he said it was one of the best landings he has made so far in the 14 years he has been flying the heavyweight.

Mr Dmytro, was also disappointed that Hyderabadis couldn't get a glimpse of the AN-225. “It is highly unlikely that such a large transport aircraft will ever be built again. It is not commercially viable and its operating costs are very high,” he said.

But the airplane’s gargantuan size was still the talk of the town. “It’s high as a six-storeyed building. You don’t get many opportunities to see such an aircraft,” said Mr Rishabh Birla, Managing Director of M/s Air Shagoon Pvt Ltd, who brought the plane to Hyderabad.

Captain Dmytro was full of interesting facts. “It’s 28 years old but it's a very reliable piece of machinery. We — 19 crew members including a co-pilot, eight flight crew and technicians - have never had an incident. The longest we have ever flown was a 16-hour trip from Japan to Toronto and despite not much modernisation, it remains absolutely fit.”