Following its momentous arrival at Washington Dulles on the 27th, the Rossiya – Special Detachment aircraft has just landed at New York’s JFK on its way home from Moscow.
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The Ilyushin IL-96-300 of the Rossiya – Special Detachment departed Washington Dulles at 1125 EDT and landed at New York’s JFK around seven minutes ago at the time of landing.
The jet in question is RA-96018, a 15-year-old frame that has been with the government for a long time.
iNews confirmed yesterday that the purpose of this flight into Washington Dulles initially was to carry Russian diplomats home back to Moscow. A U.S Spokesperson said the following:
“The US government has allowed the Russian government to send a charter flight to the United States to transport to Russia those Russian diplomats whose assignments have ended.”
“We also maintain strict reciprocity with Russia regarding special transport missions for diplomatic personnel and cargo.”
It remains clear in this case that the aircraft has stopped over in New York to pick up some more diplomats on top of the ones picked up from Washington Dulles initially.
Not Just Washington & New York: Berlin Also Received This Jet…
Back in April, one of these Russian Ilyushin IL-96-300s was spotted in Berlin, Germany.
Allegedly, the aircraft flew to the German capital to transport around 150 persons back to Russia. This is at least the second visit the aircraft has made in the last 12 months at the time.
AviationSource photographer Emil Bree acquired photos of RA-96014, the Russian IL-96 in question, landing and taking off from Berlin that day.
AviationSource will continue to provide live updates on the status of the Ilyushin IL-96-300 heading back to Moscow from Washington via New York.
