I looked through my archives and found some info. It is from An-72 monograph article by Rostislav Maraev in Aviatsiya i Vremya (Aviation & Time) magazine, No.3/2008. The following text is my approximate translation.
So:
During first two decades of its existence, the Antonov OKB turned from little group of enthusiasts into powerful, world-known company. 7 aircraft types were created during this time, and all of them came into production. Next 10 years Antonov team also worked hard, producing new projects; but many of them had no luck to be realized. One of these was An-60 airliner, expected to carry 64 to 73 passengers. It had traditional Antonov high-wing layout, but otherwise it was much different from all precursors. For An-60 the designers applied swept wing and T-tail, and also turbofan engines – two Lotarev D-36 mounted on pylons under the wing. It was also planned to design a light military transport aircraft based on the An-60 – it was designated An-72.
In early 1970s, the mockup of An-60 fuselage section was built; it was used to test different versions of passenger cabin configurations. But for continuing the work it was necessary to get win in a competition with some other firms including Yakovlev. The projects appraisal took place in Moscow, on the competition commission meeting presided by Aircraft Industry Minister Petr Dementyev. The results were paradoxical. As Antonov veteran Yuri Kirzhner recalled, “the commission ranked our project the best, it got first place. But the aircraft construction was entrusted to Yakovlev. This way Yak-42 appeared… The ways of God are inscrutable, as well as the ministers’ decisions”.
P.S. It looks a bit strange – twin-engined An-60 carrying 64 to 73 passengers, as a direct competitor to 120-seat trimotor Yak-42. But I didn’t invent this.
Though... The task was to replace Tu-134 (80 passengers). Antonov proposed slightly smaller aircraft, Yakovlev proposed larger. The larger one was chosen. Was it possible? Why not?
P.P.S. Maybe we can say that An-60 is reborn now, personifying into An-148? There is much similarity among them!
