| Oleksandr Halunenko | |||||||||||||||
| Native Name: | Олександр Васильович Галуненко | ||||||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | UK | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1 March 1946 | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Troyitske, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||
| Citizenship: | Ukraine | ||||||||||||||
| Education: | Leningrad Institute of Aviation Instrumentation (1974) | ||||||||||||||
| Alma Mater: | Chernihiv Military Aviation Higher School of Pilots (1968) | ||||||||||||||
| Years Active: | 1968–present | ||||||||||||||
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| Spouse: | Olga Halunenko | ||||||||||||||
| Children: | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Awards: | Hero of Ukraine (1999) | ||||||||||||||
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Oleksandr Vasylyovych Halunenko (Ukrainian: Олександр Васильович Галуненко) is a Ukrainian test pilot, Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR, the president of the Ukrainian Federation of Aeronautical Sports (member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale), and recipient of the title Hero of Ukraine.[1] [2]
He is known for testing such airplanes as the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and the super giant Antonov An-225 Mriya.
Halunenko received the Hero of Ukraine award for manually landing the second prototype of the Antonov An-70 successfully, after malfunctions of the electronic control system occurred during its April 1997 initial flight. After retiring from flying in 2004, he served a single term in the Ukrainian parliament beginning in 2006. A resident of Bucha, Ukraine, Halunenko survived the battle of Bucha during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[3]