AN-225 Destroyed

[ftldave]

It was reported today that the world's biggest aircraft, the AN-225, has been destroyed in Ukraine.

I wish that it could be rebuilt as they hope, but I fear that we'll never see the likes of this big amazing plane ever again, at least not in my lifetime. A dark day for aviation and for the world. So very sad.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/antonov-an-225-largest-plane-destroyed-ukraine-scli-intl/index.html

[pete]

Terrible. But in comparison to humans it's nothing.

Apparently there is another one not airworthy

[pete]

Anothertragic loss: from wiki:

But there may be light on the horizon

The aircraft's last commercial mission was from 2 to 5 February 2022, to collect almost 90 tons of COVID-19 test kits from Tianjin, China and deliver them to Billund in Denmark, via Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.[56][57] From there it returned on 5 February to its base at Antonov Airport in Hostomel,[57] where it underwent an engine swap.[56] On the advice of NATO it was prepared for evacuation, scheduled for the morning of 24 February, but on that day Russia invaded, with the airfield being one of their first targets.[56] A ban on civilian flights was quickly enacted by Ukrainian authorities.[56] During the ensuing Battle of Antonov Airport, the runway was rendered unusable.[56]

On 24 February, the An-225 was said to be intact.[58] On 27 February, a photo was posted on Twitter of an object tentatively identified as the An-225 on fire in its hangar.[59][60] A report by the Ukrainian edition of Radio Liberty stated that the airplane was destroyed during the Battle of Antonov Airport,[61] which was repeated by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba[62] and by Ukroboronprom, Antonov's parent organisation.[63] The Antonov company initially refused to confirm or deny the reports,[64][61] and said it was still investigating them.[65]

Also on 27 February, a press release by Ukroboronprom[63] stated that the An-225 had been destroyed by Russian forces.[66] Ukroboronprom said that they planned to rebuild the plane at the Russians' expense.[63] The statement said: "The restoration is estimated to take over 3 billion USD and over five years. Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine's aviation and the air cargo sector."[67][68] The Ukrainian government also said that it would be rebuilt