Visit from a behemoth: Winnipeggers witness massive cargo plane touchdown

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This article was published 17/11/2024 (348 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a flash of blue and yellow, one of the world’s largest aircraft landed in Winnipeg. Locals flocked to behold the spectacle.

“It’s a rare bird,” Al Dolynchuk said Sunday. “For it to come down and take off in Winnipeg… (if you) have the opportunity to see it, you do it.”

He and his wife parked near the Brookside Cemetery around 9:30 a.m. Sunday. They prepared to watch the Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo transporter leave the city; it was headed to San Francisco.

Depending on the model, the plane can carry 150,000 kilograms of cargo. The craft spans 69 metres long — or 226 feet — and is 21 metres high. Helicopters can fit inside.

Dolynchuk watched the Antonov queue in a lineup at the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. He brought his binoculars.

“It is just a behemoth compared to everything else,” he said.

Cargo wasn’t unloaded or inputted during the brief Winnipeg visit. The plane touched down so the crew could rest, said Tom Brotherston, owner of Flightcraft Aviation Services.

The company was tapped to marshal and service the plane, which arrived in Winnipeg Saturday afternoon, Brotherston said.

On Friday, the An-124 flew from Italy to Ireland. On Saturday, it went from Ireland to Goose Bay, Nfld., to Winnipeg.

“Hopefully one day they’ll come here and unload,” Brotherston said. “It’s just an amazing plane.”

It seemed more common for Antonov crafts to arrive in Manitoba before the COVID-19 pandemic, Brotherston recalled. This is the first one he remembers seeing here since the pandemic.

Between then and now, Russia started war in Ukraine. The An-124 in Winnipeg was a Ukrainian aircraft, bearing the country’s blue and yellow stripes. The phrase “Be Brave Like Mykolaiv” decorated the plane’s tip.

“It’s almost a symbol of independence, in a way,” said spectator Scott Ticknor.

Pre-war, Antonov had the world’s largest cargo plane, the Antonov An-225, which spanned 84 metres (or 276 ft.). It was destroyed by Russian strikes in February 2022, according to news reports at the time.

Ticknor parked off Brookside Boulevard to watch the An-124’s landing and takeoff this weekend. Saturday drew upwards of 20 cars and people who travelled on foot, Ticknor said.

Sunday was quieter, though plenty of spectators still appeared, he said.

“It was a wonderful experience, and I’m glad I did it,” Ticknor added.

The Antonov An-124 Ruslan saw its first flight in 1982. Since then, there have been several variations of the machine.

The massive aircraft would land in Winnipeg multiple times per year pre-pandemic, the Free Press reported in 2016.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com