The sad photos and video in this post show the wreckage of the completely destroyed Antonov An-225 Mriya, the largest plane ever built at Hostomel airport.
A Russian state TV visited the airport and their images, showing also the inside of the hangar, eventually provide the final proof that the An-225 has been almost completely destroyed: as we assessed yesterday, at least the front section of the aircraft has gone.
The rest of the fuselage, the left-wing, and possibly the tail appears to be intact to some extent, at least from distance, although we don’t have a clear view of those parts that were possibly damaged as well by shrapnels, fire, etc.
The sad photos also show the remains of the Antonov An-225 Mriya.
Ukrainian Government has also confirmed via Twitter on Sunday that the Antonov AN-225 “Mriya” (The Dream) had been destroyed.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian SSR within the Soviet Union during the 1980s.
It was powered by six turbofan engines and was the heaviest aircraft ever built. It also had the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. The single example built had the Ukrainian civil registration UR-82060.
A second airframe with a slightly different configuration was partially built. Its construction was halted in 1994 because of lack of funding and interest, but revived briefly in 2009, bringing it to 60–70% completion.
On Aug. 30, 2016, Antonov agreed to complete the second airframe for Airspace Industry Corporation of China (not to be confused with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China) as a prelude to commencing series production.
