The Antonov An-225 Mriya destroyed by fire in its hangar in Ukraine

The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225 Mriya (registered UR-82060)  is destroyed by fire in its hangar in Gostomel Airport, Ukraine. The news was officially confirmed last week. Today, new footage of the disaster emerged.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed in a tweet that the An-225 was destroyed. At the end of the morning of 27 February 2022, the video of a drone above Antonov airport in Gostomel near Kiev already showed the aeroplane on fire in its hangar, leaving little doubt about the state of the aircraft.

The fire is allegedly attributed to a Russian attack by air.

On 24 February, there were already reports that the An-225 might have been destroyed, but further (fake) news from an An-225 pilot let us think that the aircraft had been flown to safety in Georgia. Now, sadly, there is the official confirmation of the loss of that great aeroplane.

Today, new footage resurfaced online, showing the extent of damage to the aircraft. Note that on the Russian state TV report, all burnt out (Russian?) military equipment has been removed from the scene.

The Antonov An-225, the cargo plane of all records

Developed as part of the Soviet space programme, the An-225 was to be used to transport the space shuttle Buran or very large components of the Energiya rocket. Only one of the two aircraft was completed before the fall of the USSR (the second aircraft only includes the central structure of an An-225) and has been flying since 1988.

The aircraft, called Mriya (“Dream” in Ukrainian), is the largest plane in the world, both in wingspan (88.4 m) and in length (84 m). The aircraft was until now used as a cargo carrier by Antonov Airlines Company. Mriya has thus accumulated more than 240 records, among which:

• 253 tonnes of cargo in a single aircraft
• transport of the heaviest load (in one piece) (186.7 tonnes)
• transport of the longest part (42.1 m)