The Ilyushin IL-62 is a long range Russian built four engine jet aircraft that saw service with airlines such as East Germany’s Interflug and the USSR’s Aeroflot along others.
On 23 October 1989, one of the Interflug aircraft was landed at Stölln as a gift to commemorate Otto Lilienthal’s crash during his test flights. Landing a large commercial jet on a short grass runway is no mean feat, so the video is worth checking out.
Interflug Grass Runway Landing
The grass runway at Stölln / Rhinow is 900 metres long and the IL-62 usually requires around 2,500 metres when operating in normal service. Of course, the aircraft was not loaded as normal on this flight.
Heinz-Dieter Kallbach was the Captain on this flight and you can see in the video that a low pass was made over the field before the landing took place. Needless to say, it looks fairly dangerous.
Fire and rescue crews were on hand just in case the worst happened. Happily for everyone, the landing was successful and apparently there is some kind of Guinness Record for that arrival.
Interflug no longer exists, having been liquidated in 1991 post German reunification. This aircraft is one of the few remainders of the airline.
Can You Visit The IL-62?
DDR-SEG is now called Lady Agnes after Otto Lilienthal’s wife. Apparently it is used as a museum and you can always have your wedding on board if you desire.
It looks pretty well kept since it has been sitting there since 1989. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to have a wedding on it, but I’d certainly go and visit.
Overall Thoughts
Video of the landing is certainly pretty spectacular to see. Clearly the pilots knew exactly what they were doing and decided it was worth the risk. I thought it was impressive!
Have you ever visited this aircraft? What did you think of the video? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Felix Goetting via Planespotters.net
Picture of Lady Agnes on the ground by Wolkenkratze via Wikimedia Commons.
Awesome!
I thought so! Definitely impressive 🙂
I visited Lady Agnes several years ago and was very impressed with its upkeep and pristine interior. I wonder if Kallbach flew for Lufthansa after reunification. There are no more IL-62’s flying anywhere in the world.
Great to hear it has been kept so well. Be curious about that too. Thanks for the comment!