5 ms·

There's exactly one An-225 in existence. So if you've ever seen a photo of one, that's the one.

by eps 5y ago

hughrr 5y ago
I think it was an is but now is a was. It exists only in a state of quantum peril at the moment.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
phire 5y ago
And it's currently right in the middle of a war zone, status unconfirmed. The airfield was taken by Russian paratroopers, then Ukrainian forces took it back and I think Russian ground troops currently have control.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  I wonder why the Ukrainians didn't fly it out while they had control :'(
  - mkr-hn 5y ago
    That would be an awful waste of jet fuel in a country dealing with an invasion. It's an important symbol, but so are a bunch of topped off fighters and more practical transports.
  - PedroBatista 5y ago
    Of the top of my head: They don’t have complete control of the area let alone airspace You just don’t turn the key and fly off a plane, especially a plane like this. Very few people can fly this plane. The runway is damaged. There’s no military value to invest a minute thinking about it. I know there are many sad pandas going around the internets, but when your country is being invaded and people are dying in droves, it’s comical thinking about one plane.
    - justsomehnguy 5y ago
      > They don’t have complete control of the area let alone airspace They well enough time to do it before losing the control > You just don’t turn the key and fly off a plane, especially a plane like this. It's just a matter of crew, destination and some money for expenses. Obviously Antonow C-level preferred not to do anything proactive for their main milk cow, just like they did it all these years. > Very few people can fly this plane. > The runway is damaged. See #1
      - PedroBatista 5y ago
        Again, nobody cares. This is not the moment for such a mundane issue. Before 24th Feb we can all stay here discussing everything under the Sun, not now.
suprjami 5y ago
I saw a Twitter thread from an air freight logistics expert saying it was destroyed over the weekend. https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1497656890171396098 https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1497656890171396098
- sofixa 5y ago
  Oh crap. I hadn't really thought about the ramifications for global cargo besides the direct losses of the 225 and some 124s - of course with Antonov the company incapacitated, all their aircraft ( even without talking about the huge ones, the smaller ones are heavily used in Africa) will have to be grounded eventually due to lack of spares. (Maybe, just maybe, Russian companies that used to collaborate with them could be able to chip in, but it's not really an option at the moment)
- Beltalowda 5y ago
  I read "destruction / grounding" as "or", rather than "and". From what I can find in a quick search there's lots of rumours, but nothing confirmed, so who knows at this point.
  - izacus 5y ago
    There are some tweets now showing it burning inside a destroyed hangar so it's most likely gone :/
  - masklinn 5y ago
    I expect it’s “destruction or grounding of the Antonov fleet” because not all planes were in Kyiv, and so the planes currently working outside of Ukraine would probably be grounded in the meantime, with the ones at Antonov’s facilities likely destroyed.
    - elygre 5y ago
      The ones outside Ukraine are operational, it seems. A Norwegian army platoon is on the way to Lithuania in one of those, pretty much as we speak. (Yes, left Oslo 16 minutes ago. https://www.flightradar24.com/ADB5090/2af5a3ab https://www.flightradar24.com/ADB5090/2af5a3ab.)
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

There's exactly one An-225 in existence. So if you've ever seen a photo of one, that's the one.

by eps 5y ago

There's exactly one An-225 in existence. So if you've ever seen a photo of one, that's the one.

hughrr 5y ago

I think it was an is but now is a was. It exists only in a state of quantum peril at the moment.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

phire 5y ago

And it's currently right in the middle of a war zone, status unconfirmed. The airfield was taken by Russian paratroopers, then Ukrainian forces took it back and I think Russian ground troops currently have control.

GekkePrutser 5y ago
I wonder why the Ukrainians didn't fly it out while they had control :'(
- mkr-hn 5y ago
  That would be an awful waste of jet fuel in a country dealing with an invasion. It's an important symbol, but so are a bunch of topped off fighters and more practical transports.
- PedroBatista 5y ago
  Of the top of my head: They don’t have complete control of the area let alone airspace You just don’t turn the key and fly off a plane, especially a plane like this. Very few people can fly this plane. The runway is damaged. There’s no military value to invest a minute thinking about it. I know there are many sad pandas going around the internets, but when your country is being invaded and people are dying in droves, it’s comical thinking about one plane.
  - justsomehnguy 5y ago
    > They don’t have complete control of the area let alone airspace They well enough time to do it before losing the control > You just don’t turn the key and fly off a plane, especially a plane like this. It's just a matter of crew, destination and some money for expenses. Obviously Antonow C-level preferred not to do anything proactive for their main milk cow, just like they did it all these years. > Very few people can fly this plane. > The runway is damaged. See #1
    - PedroBatista 5y ago
      Again, nobody cares. This is not the moment for such a mundane issue. Before 24th Feb we can all stay here discussing everything under the Sun, not now.

suprjami 5y ago

I saw a Twitter thread from an air freight logistics expert saying it was destroyed over the weekend. https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1497656890171396098 https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1497656890171396098

sofixa 5y ago
Oh crap. I hadn't really thought about the ramifications for global cargo besides the direct losses of the 225 and some 124s - of course with Antonov the company incapacitated, all their aircraft ( even without talking about the huge ones, the smaller ones are heavily used in Africa) will have to be grounded eventually due to lack of spares. (Maybe, just maybe, Russian companies that used to collaborate with them could be able to chip in, but it's not really an option at the moment)
Beltalowda 5y ago
I read "destruction / grounding" as "or", rather than "and". From what I can find in a quick search there's lots of rumours, but nothing confirmed, so who knows at this point.
- izacus 5y ago
  There are some tweets now showing it burning inside a destroyed hangar so it's most likely gone :/
- masklinn 5y ago
  I expect it’s “destruction or grounding of the Antonov fleet” because not all planes were in Kyiv, and so the planes currently working outside of Ukraine would probably be grounded in the meantime, with the ones at Antonov’s facilities likely destroyed.
  - elygre 5y ago
    The ones outside Ukraine are operational, it seems. A Norwegian army platoon is on the way to Lithuania in one of those, pretty much as we speak. (Yes, left Oslo 16 minutes ago. https://www.flightradar24.com/ADB5090/2af5a3ab https://www.flightradar24.com/ADB5090/2af5a3ab.)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]