Antonov Airlines, the air transport division of Antonov Group, reported last Tuesday, October 4, that one of its AN-124 Ruslan aircraft has transported four civilian helicopters.
According to the published images, the four aircraft were loaded on the AN-124-100M aircraft named «Be brave like Kharkiv». This is a special action in which the company christened its aircraft with phrases alluding to the cities hit by Russia in the Ukrainian war, as Antonov is Ukrainian.
Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine and is in the northeast of the country. As it is close the border with Russia, it was one of the most targeted places.
As seen in the images, the four transported equipment are of the Airbus H125 model, formerly known as Eurocopter AS350. As described by Antonov, the shipment took place in Girona, Spain, but there is no information about the destination.
We recently performed transportation of 4 civil helicopters from Spain using one of An-124-100 aircraft.
The short runway in Girona required Antonov to involve a special crew led by a captain who has the appropriate permits for landing and takeoff from such a runway. pic.twitter.com/pHSw5a6oPe— ANTONOV Airlines (@AirlinesAntonov) October 4, 2022
As reported by our partner AEROIN, the Ukrainian company described the operation as having special aspects, as the runway at Girona airport is short. Therefore, a special crew was needed at the controls, with a commander who had the proper permissions for landings and takeoffs on such runways.
Although the helicopters do not represent a heavy load that could not be carried on other cargo aircraft models, the larger dimensions of the AN-124’s compartment allow all four to be carried in a single flight, which would not be possible on narrower airframes.
