IL-96M/T is FAA certified, but its viability remains questionable

Published: 7/13/1999

After much speculation, the USA has finally awarded a type certificate to the Il-96M/T (Concise 6/10/99). At the official ceremony, on July 7th 1999, at Ilyushin"s offices in Moscow, the US ambassador in Russia said that: "in the past four months the US/Russian relationship was put to the test, but even in those hard conditions we continued to work together on major technical projects". He added that progress on the Il-96M/T certification project had been monitored by President Clinton and by President Yeltsin, both of who had supported it at critical stages. (Concise 3/23/99). The ambassador claimed that this had been one of the major factors in the certification process. According to the ambassador, the USA had always considered this project as a good one to build a solid basis for cooperation between US and Russian industries, so as to give both nations "leading positions in the aeronautical sector in the next century". Tatyana Anodina, chairwoman of MAK (International Aviation Committee), said that the process of harmonisation of US and Russian airworthiness requirements began eight years ago, when few people believed in its successful completion. It was 1994 before Albert Gore, US Vice-President and Victor Chernomyrdin signed a memorandum of understanding, providing an official basis for what was initially called "shadow FAA certification for the Il-96 and Il-103". In 1997, the Il-96 performed its flight in the USA, under FAA certification. In early 1999, all test flights – 593 in all, with flight time of 1242 hours - were completed, and FAA and Ilyushin began paperwork that took nearly six months. Victor Chernomyrdin, who also attended the venue, called the event "a victory and an achievement". He said that: "I am happy that we had enough courage and patience to bring the process to a successful completion", adding that a big personal contribution to it was made by Ilyushin general director and general designer, Genrikh Novozhilov. Novozhilov claimed that now, with the Il-96M/T being fully certified to Russian and US airworthiness requirements, it would be more attractive to the market. He reiterated that three airlines that have already expressed interest in the Il-96M/T, namely Aeroflot, Transaero and, more recently, Volga-Dnepr. Novozhilov urged the US ambassador to "help in solving financial matters with the Il- 96M/T", caused by the US Eximbank"s decision, in 1998, to cut off the credit line for a project to provide Aeroflot with 20 Il-96M/Ts (Concise 1/31/99). Concise still considers that the project, in spite of its strong political support in Moscow and in Washington, has a long way to go to prove its commercial viability.

Article ID: 677