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Show A huge Canadian goose World's largest cargo plane lands in Salt Lake - i iLL 1 SALT LAKE CITY Looking like a huge Canadian goose separated from its flock, one of the 'world's largest cargo aircraft lumbered" into Salt Lake Intema-; Intema-; tional Airport Monday night, just as 'the sun was setting over the Oquirrh Mountains. ' ' The plane, one of the few to ever land on American soil, was on a '"hicrcy flight from the Soviet Union. Salt Lake City was its farthest des- ' tin at ion. " The plane was nearly two hours late arriving from Newfoundland, its only refueling stop on a mission from the Soviet Union. It was even later departing. After its arrival, the giant aircraft was loaded with about six tons of medical supplies, food, clothes, etc. to be flown to Armenia to assist an Armenian earthquake relief project ' led by Salt Lake City industrialist Jon M. Huntsman. " Scheduled to depart Salt Lake ' City at noon Tuesday, the plane's departure was delayed until ' Wednesday afternoon to enable the v plane's crew and Armenian delegation delega-tion (about 20 in all) to "go on a ' shopping spree" before leaving Salt . Lake City. Thousands of spectators surrounded sur-rounded the airport Wednesday to - see the huge plane lift into the air . near the north end of the airport runway, gain altitude over Davis County, and disappear over northern nor-thern Utah. Its next stop before returning to the Soviet Union will be the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport where it is scheduled to load tons of heavy equipment for use in the disaster-struck region of Armenia and Russia. Spectators watching the plane arrive ar-rive Monday night were not only awed by its size, but thrilled with the historic flight the plane had just completed. As its nine sets of wheels touched pavement and sent up a small puff of smoke, the spectators spec-tators cheered in unison. "Nice going. You look great," cheered one man whose voice could be heard over the others. "Isn't it wonderful? It's a miracle,' ' yelled a nearby woman. She later explained her en- , thusiasm. I "What would it have been like j just a year or two ago?" she asked those around her. Isn't it a miracle that peace in the world has progressed pro-gressed to a point that the Soviet Union can fly its huge plane into America, have it loaded with ; welfare goods, and return to its ; needy people in Russia?" The Soviet-built Antonov-124, a behemoth four-engine transport, has the largest wing span and cargo space of any plane in the world. Its The Soviet-built Antonov-1 24, one of the world's largest cargo aircraft air-craft landed at the Salt Lake International Airport this week. It made the nearby 747 look like a small glider plane. The aircraft was loaded with six tons of medical supplies, food and clothes to be flown to Armenia to help earthquake victims. The relief project is being led by Utah industrialist Jon M. Huntsman. jet thrust on takeoff is also more powerful than any aircraft in the sky. Although the plane's arrival was nearly two hours after its scheduled landing, the wait didn't daunt the enthusiasm of the thousands oi visitors who had literally "plugged" Interstate Highway 215, its offramps and access roads, and every available 1 ' standing room only" site at the south end of the airport. Spectators cheered in unison as the plane touched down. Mr Huntsman, Hunt-sman, Sen. Jake Gam and othei dignitaries were on hand to greel the crew and Armenian envoy as they departed the plane. A huge Armenian flag waved high above the welcoming delegation, in plain sight of the crew as the plane taxied to a stop. Although only a spot in the sky, several spectators with binoculars gave out the call, "there she is," as the plane along with an American escort plane was spotted approaching ap-proaching from the north. By the time the plane had completed a semi-circle of west Salt Lake Valley, everyone knew of its whereabouts. As the plane taxied back to the terminal from the far north end of the runway, only the tail section could be seen above the buildings giving the awesome appearance of a shark swimming in shallow water. I .'4 ! i i A 1 a' ' ; -X V.1 r : fc n i ' 7 V ? 1 i 1 "Y I j J f 1 , . 4 j -- ttt. - .. - o&Aik 5 -r ....... . r m H S : ! i lT I v " I H Pl Thousandss of Salt Lake area residentssurrounded the airport this week to see the Antonov-124, "' Soviet-built cargo plane. Spectators said it looked like a Canadian goose separated from its flock and ' were awed by its size and thrilled with the historic flight the plane had completed from Russia. - The Soviet-built Antonov-124 cargo plane flies toward the Salt Lake International Airport. The behemoth four-engine transport has the largest wingspan and cargo space of any plane in the world. Its jet thrust on takeoff is also more powerful than any aircraft in the sky. |
