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Ukraine’s “Worlds Largest Plane”, Antonov An-225, Reportedly Destroyed By Russia
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Ukrainian-owned “Worlds Largest Plane” has been destroyed by Russia.
Only one An-225, registered as UR-82060 and nicknamed Mryia, was built by Antonov.
An-225 was originally designed by the Soviet Union, headed by Russia, to transport the its Buran space shuttle.
Last month, the Antonov An-225 Mriya suffered minor damage during landing at polish airport.
There are unconfirmed reports from Ukraine that suggest that the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225, has been destroyed, amid heavy assaults by Russian Forces at the Hostomel Airport (GML) were it is currently based.
According to FlightAware.com, the An-225, registered as UR-82060 and nicknamed Mryia, is confirmed to be at the airport after flying there from Billund, Denmark on February 5th, 2022.
Videos circulating on Twitter shows huge plumes of black smoke rising from the ground after Russian helicopters launched a large air assault operation on Hostomel Airport.
Commenting on the reports, an Anotov spokesperson told Simple Flying :
“We cannot confirm or refute this information as our personnel was evacuated from Kyiv-Antonov airport.”
In a later update, Antonov Pilot Dmytro Antonov confirms that the An-225 remains intact at its home airport outside of Kyiv.
Recall that the Antonov An-225 Mriya, full of supplies, suffered a mechanical problem with its landing gear after touching down at Rzeszow Airport in Poland, last month.
The Antonov Company, who confirmed the incident in a tweet, said that the damage on the An-225 has been fixed and the plane is ready to continue her mission.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya, equipped with six engines and 16 pairs of landing gear wheels, is the undisputed largest cargo aircraft in the world.
Only one AN-225 was built by Antonov. It was originally designed by the Soviet Union, headed by Russia, to transport the country’s Buran space shuttle.
According to the operator, Antonov Airlines, the huge cargo plane has an internal cargo volume of 1,200 cubic meters, or 42,377 cubic feet. It is capable of lifting a maximum 551,155 pounds, or 275 tons, nearly double that of Boeing 747-8 freighter.
Mriya is larger than America’s largest cargo plane, the C-5M Super Galaxy, which is normally used to ferry the US Presidents fleets, including a pair of Beasts limousines.
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