Reports That The Worlds Largest Aircraft, Antonov AN-225 Myria, Has Been Destroyed by Russia

Such a shame if true, she is/was an incredible piece of flying machinery, from Business Insider:

There's yet another victim of the conflict underway in Ukraine: the only Antonov An-225 "Mriya" ("Dream" in Ukrainian).

The Mriya (NATO reporting name: Cossack) was designed at the end of Cold War and its purpose was to carry the Soviet "Buran" space shuttle and parts of the "Energia" rocket on its back. It operated as the primary method of transporting the Buran-class orbiters from 1988 to 1991.

… The Antonov An-225 Mriya held multiple records which included being the heaviest aircraft ever built, the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service and the largest cargo aircraft in operational service.

The fate of the gigantic aircraft had been already under focus in the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As we have reported, posts on social media claimed the lone operational An-225 Mriya had been "damaged" during a battle for Antonov Airport, also called "Hostomel" or "Gostomel" Airport.

… However, images coming from the airport on Sunday, February 27, showed the very same hangar used to host the Mriya in fire, suggesting the aircraft had been destroyed.

Source

This is terrible news for aviation, I’m surprised they hadn’t shipped her out before now with the hostilities going on



(I’m unable to add photos I’m afraid, I’m using a new phone we both hate each other)

I hope everyone is well, all the best

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

Further readings...
theaviationist.com...


May still be up in the air, no pun intended.

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

interesting. reports out of israel last week indicated that
the ivans nicked the plane.
time will tell

a reply to: Bigburgh

Hey Big!

Yeah I’m seeing mixed reports too, hopefully she’s OK but I don’t think it’s looking good 😕

…Fingers crossed,……. 🤞

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

Not to take away from loss of life, yes fingers crossed.

Edit: but my hopes are fading.

I've never figured out how to post pics from the web, but there's a really good one at this link:
www.timesofisrael.com... est-plane-lands-at-ben-gurion-airport/

Tragic.
This article has a beautiful video and some great photos of her: www.airlineratings.com...

If this is true, which to me it's looking like it is... I am deeply saddened. She was one of my favorite aircraft.

Saw her when I was at Hickam for RIMPAC, impressive plane absolutely did not look real flying in.

Hope she survives but I wouldnt hold out hope.

ETA: first time I saw it come in, all the work on the flight line stopped as people tried to figure out what the heck it was.

youtu.be...


youtu.be...




youtu.be...

originally posted by: servovenford
Tragic.
This article has a beautiful video and some great photos of her: www.airlineratings.com...

If this is true, which to me it's looking like it is... I am deeply saddened. She was one of my favorite aircraft.

From memory (could be a dream) there's another air frame semi finished somewhere that could be put into the air

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

What a great place to hide a mobile biolab.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

You are correct about that.
Turkey is thinking about completing it: www.oryxspioenkop.com...

By late 2009, work on the aircraft still had not started and the plan appeared to have been abandoned. Then in May 2011, the CEO of Antonov stated that the completion of the second An-225 could be completed in three years if an interested party was to come up at least 300 million USD.

Photos of the plane at that link. It was about 70% done when they considered completing it... hopefully that one stays safe.

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

They couldn’t fly it out. It was undergoing routine maintenance and was in a non flyable status.

a reply to: servovenford

There have long been rumors of (insert country here) being interested in completing it. The sections were at the same airfield however, so i would be amazed if they were undamaged.

originally posted by: nerbot
a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

What a great place to hide a mobile biolab.

I think a tractor trailor would work better.

originally posted by: FocusedWolf

originally posted by: nerbot
a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

What a great place to hide a mobile biolab.

I think a tractor trailor would work better.

Do they fly?

a reply to: nerbot

They're a lot easier to service and keep moving than a plane. The An-225 needed between 9800 and 11,000 feet of runway to operate. You also need specialized equipment for servicing, highly trained mechanics, and a very large maintenance facility. The An-225 was very maintenance intensive, requiring frequent maintenance.

originally posted by: servovenford
a reply to: ufoorbhunter

You are correct about that.
Turkey is thinking about completing it: www.oryxspioenkop.com...

By late 2009, work on the aircraft still had not started and the plan appeared to have been abandoned. Then in May 2011, the CEO of Antonov stated that the completion of the second An-225 could be completed in three years if an interested party was to come up at least 300 million USD.

Photos of the plane at that link. It was about 70% done when they considered completing it... hopefully that one stays safe.

Wowzers servovenford nice one with the info, the Turks to the rescue! Really hope we see one of these planes again. Total beauty and a sight to behold of the once mighty Soviet space programme

originally posted by: servovenford
a reply to: ufoorbhunter

You are correct about that.
Turkey is thinking about completing it: www.oryxspioenkop.com...

By late 2009, work on the aircraft still had not started and the plan appeared to have been abandoned. Then in May 2011, the CEO of Antonov stated that the completion of the second An-225 could be completed in three years if an interested party was to come up at least 300 million USD.

Photos of the plane at that link. It was about 70% done when they considered completing it... hopefully that one stays safe.

Wowzers servovenford nice one with the info, the Turks to the rescue! Really hope we see one of these planes again. Total beauty and a sight to behold of the once mighty Soviet space programme

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

According to the head of Antonov, completing it doesn't make sense. He said in 2020 that their 2012 estimate would be $460M to complete it to the original design specifications. It costs at least $1M per flight to charter it per flight, and it operates 20 flights a year. There are also 35% of airports in the world that it can't operate from. They've already said it will be somewhere around $3B to rebuild the An-225 now. They'll never recoup the costs of building a second one, no matter who it is.