Following over a week of speculation, the operators of the world’s largest plane have confirmed that it will never fly again.
The Antonov 225, the only one ever completed, was destroyed after the airfield in Ukraine where it was based was attacked by Russian forces last Thursday.
The Antonov An-225 strategic airlift cargo aircraft, name ‘Mriya’ or ‘Dream’, was originally developed to transport the Energiya carrier-rocket and Buran space shuttle between space facilities in the former Soviet Union. It made its first flight on December 21, 1988.
Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine last week, Hostomel (Gostomel) airfield where the 225 was parked in a hangar, was targeted by artillery fire. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the An-225 had been damaged while Antonov stated at the time they were having the damaged assessed.
Over the following days, various sources and even a senior Ukranian minister reported that the plane had been destroyed however no official confirmation was made by Antonov Airlines and there was little by way of any other detail released about the fate of the mammoth plane.
Photo and video evidence confirming the destruction of the Antonov 225 plane finally emerged yesterday after a television news crew gained accessed to the airport. It’s also being reported that one Antonov-124 cargo plane has also been destroyed.
Last night, the Antonov Company confirmed in a tweet “The Dream will never fly again.”
The Dream🇺🇦 will NEVER die!#Antonov #AN225 #Ukraine #StopRussianAggression https://t.co/D19KtCua1Y
— ANTONOV Company 🇺🇦 (@AntonovCompany) March 3, 2022
The jet visited Shannon nine times between 1991 and November last year and brought the largest single consignment of PPE into Shannon at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The 225 visited Shannon in 1991, 2003, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2020 (PPE) and three times in 2021 (twice in October and once in November).
The 225 had been mothballed for almost a decade but was refurbished and returned to commercial operation by Antonov Airlines.
While a second An-225 fuselage was partially constructed – with a slightly different configuration – it was never completed. Attempts to finish the second airframe was halted repeatedly before finally being terminated because of a lack of funding.
The massive plane attracted huge attention whenever it visited Shannon often with thousands of people travelling from all over Ireland to catch a glimpse of the unique 32-wheeled jet.
The plane’s wingspan of 88.4m (290ft) was wider than the runway at Shannon which is 61m (200ft) wide including 8m (26ft) of shoulder on each side.
The An-225 entered commercial service in 2001 operating flights all over the world carrying cargoes such as electrical transformers and mobile power generators. It also continued to support worldwide peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
The aircraft’s service life had been extended, meaning that it could have remained in operation until at least 2033.
Based on Antonov’s AN-124 design, the AN-225 saw fuselage barrel extensions added fore and aft of the wings. The An-225 also uses the AN-124-100’s nose gear, which allows it to ‘kneel’ so that cargo can be easily loaded and unloaded.
However, unlike the An-124-100, which has a rear cargo door and ramp, the AN-225’s empennage design was changed from a single vertical stabilizer, to a twin tail with an oversized, swept-back horizontal stabilizer. This twin tail enabled the aircraft to carry large, heavy external loads, which would normally disturb the airflow around a conventional tail.
https://youtu.be/KkI1B1v5Pd8
The Antonov 225 departing Shannon for Kyiv last year.