The Legacy of the AN-225: A Tribute to the World’s Largest Airplane

The Legacy of the AN-225: A Tribute to the World's Largest Airplane Start the day here Record number of early votes cast in Georgia. Tom Brady becomes part owner of Raiders. Why America’s drug stores are closing. Memories of the AN-225 AN-225 memories: The gigantic AN-225 in flight in 2020. The airplane had been in Ukraine for maintenance when it was destroyed. Broken dreams: The wreckage of the AN-225, known in Ukrainian as Mriya, has been revealed after Russian troops deserted an airfield outside Kyiv. End of a legend: The AN-225 was the world's largest commercial airplane, capable of carrying huge payloads. It had cult status in the aviation world. Beyond repair: It's not clear how the airplane was destroyed -- whether a deliberate act of sabotage or whether it suffered collateral damage in the offensive to capture the airfield. Recaptured airfield: Ukrainian troops have now recaptured Hostomel airfield from the Russians who took control of it in the first week of conflict in late February. Price tag: Ukrainian officials have said they will rebuild the airplane, putting the cost of reconstruction at $3 billion. Space role: The airplane was built in the 1980s, originally to support the Soviet space shuttle program. In more recent times it's been used to make large cargo deliveries, including medical equipment to help with the Covid pandemic. Burned-out engine: One of the AN-225's six huge turbofan jet engines has been completely destroyed. Undercarriage: Some of the AN-225's enormous central train of 28 wheels can still be seen intact despite the destruction wrought on the rest of the aircraft.