With the Ukrainians retaking the Hostomel area, Dmytro Antonov, the pilot of the An-225, visited the parent base of Antonov Airlines on April 2. He filmed his visit to the airport. The offices had been completely ransacked, as had the pilots' ancillary equipment. He then turned to the aircraft at the airport. The An-225 was destroyed, as were several smaller aircraft. The other aircraft were damaged, requiring minor to major repairs.
The end of the dream: the An-225
These are the first close-up views of the plane since it caught fire. The aircraft's pilot quickly realizes (from photo 2) that the plane is completely destroyed:
- Photo 1 Left wing: It has collapsed as a result of the fire on the forward part of the structure.
- Photo 2 Forward fuselage: The cockpit no longer exists, as does the front of the cargo bay, and the fuselage below the right wing is now just a large hole.
- Photo 3 Left wing outer section: The wingtip rests on a Cessna and numerous cracks are visible as they cause oil and/or fuel leaks.
- Photo 4 Left rear wing: The leading edge is damaged.
- Photo 5 Right rear wing: Two fairly long holes are visible.
- Photo 6 Right wing: The beginning of the wing has melted under the heat of the structural fire. The first reactor is destroyed, as is the second. The third may appear intact in the photo, but in reality it is supporting a large part of the wing's weight and is therefore very severely damaged.
An-124 partly burnt, An-22 slightly damaged
The An-124 was undergoing technical overhaul in the hangar opposite the hangar dedicated to Mriya. Despite the numerous impacts, the An-124 does not appear to have been hit by a large-calibre projectile. The left side of the aircraft (visible in the cover photo of this article) appears to have sustained very little damage, unlike the right side: a fire broke out next to the rear ailerons, damaging part of the fuselage. The front of the fuselage was also damaged, probably by the fall of part of the roof.
The Antonov An-22 Antei was placed on the parking area outside, in front of all the company's aircraft that no longer fly. The aircraft sustained some damage (left rear landing gear and a hole above its fuselage. The cockpit does not appear to have been affected. The propellers had been removed prior to February 24, but no images of them are available.
The An-12 and An-132 damaged
The An-12 suffered a fire at the junction of the right wing and fuselage. The An-132 had its left wing salmon completely torn off. The aircraft appears intact but is in fact riddled with various impacts.
Several aircraft destroyed
The An-74 was the first aircraft parked. Almost nothing remains of it. The same is true of the An-26-100. These two aircraft were used as cargo planes for small loads, as spare parts or as personnel transport aircraft.
Traces of the helicopter assault still visible
The wreckage of a Mi-8 AMSTh is still surprisingly visible on site. When a Russian journalist had come to do a photo report between the technical hangar and the Mriya hangar, the Russians had carefully evacuated their destroyed or damaged vehicles from the camera's field of vision (comparison below).
The video of the An-225 pilot's visit is available here. The pilot speaks in Ukrainian, but various subtitles are available (Fr, Angl,...). He also announces in the following video that Sergii Bychkov, the director of Antonov's company, has been dismissed for his management of the aircraft and failure to anticipate their sheltering (some were under repair but others were fully airworthy). He will be replaced on April 4 by Evgeny Gavrilov.
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