The long-range test aircraft Il-96-400M completed its longest flight. The aircraft with tail number 96115 remained airborne for 11 hours, reported the analytical public page "Letayem vmeste".
The previous duration record for this modification was 9 hours and 6 minutes. It was set in April 2026 during tests in Zhukovsky.
For comparison, the very first flight in Voronezh lasted only 26 minutes. At that time, designers were exclusively testing takeoff and landing characteristics.
Industry specialist in aviation Yuri Tretyakov noted that the idea of installing PD-35 engines on the Il-96-400M instead of four PS-90A1 was initially doomed to failure. It would require too profound changes to the design.
Plans to install prospective engines on the Il-96-400 were mentioned in the summer of 2025 by OAK head Vadim Badeha. However, on the OAK website, the Il-96-400M configuration is still listed with four PS-90A1.