Built in the 1980s to carry the Soviet space shuttle, the plane took on a second life after the Cold War as the world’s largest cargo carrier, setting a record of all kinds before being destroyed in late February at its headquarters at Hostomel Airport near K. “The dream will never die,” Antonov wrote on Twitter, referring to the “Mriya” plane nickname, which means dream in Ukrainian. Solidarity poured in from every corner of the globe. But can the AN-225 fly again? The answer to this question first requires an assessment of the damage suffered by the aircraft. CNN’s Vasco Cotovio saw the wreckage up close when he visited Hostomel Airport in early April, along with other CNN reporters and the Ukrainian National Police. “Hostomel was the scene of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces from a very early age in the war,” he says. The world’s largest commercial aircraft, the AN-225, was famous all over the world. Jack Guez / AFP / Getty Images “Moscow forces tried to occupy the airport to use it as a front operating position where they could fly to additional land units. To do this, they carried out air strikes with attack helicopters. “It seemed like they had some initial success, but the Ukrainian response was very quick, it hit the airport fast and hard – to prevent any kind of landing,” he says. The condition of the plane left no doubt about the possibility of repair. “The nose of the plane was completely destroyed, apparently the victim of an immediate artillery strike,” says Cotovio. “In addition, there was extensive damage to the wings and some of the engines. The tail end escaped large impacts and has some holes caused by either shrapnel or bullets. “If it were not for the direct blow to the nose, the AN-225 could have been repaired,” he said, adding that the area around the plane was full of used ammunition, missing Russian tanks and trucks and damaged armored vehicles.
A second coming
The AN-225 was created as part of the Soviet space program to carry the Soviet “Burane” space shuttle on its back. Gilles Leimdorfer / AFP / Getty Images Andrii Sovenko, an Kyiv-based aviation engineer and specialist who has worked for Antonov since 1987 and has flown the AN-225 as a crew member, compiled a detailed list of the damage, looking at a large number of videos. and images of debris (Antonov staff are not yet allowed to return to Hostomel for security reasons). He confirms that the center of the fuselage and the nose of the plane – including the cockpit and crew rest areas – have been damaged, but it is the plane’s systems and equipment that have suffered the most critical damage. “Restoring them will be the most difficult,” he says. “This is due to the fact that most of the various electrical systems, pumps and filters used in the AN-225 are all from the 1980s. “They just aren’t being built anymore, so it’s unlikely they can be restored exactly the way they were,” he says. This is not all bad news: parts of the fins, including aerodynamic surfaces such as fins and fins, appear to have suffered minor damage and could have been rescued. Most of the six engines also look intact, and the entire tail section of the plane is only affected by debris damage, leaving it in an acceptable condition. The AN-225 suffered heavy damage during the battle for Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. Genya Savilov / AFP / Getty Images Sovenko, who wrote a book on the history of Antonov Airlines detailing his flight experience with Mriya, agrees that the plane at Hostomel could not be repaired. “It is impossible to talk about repairing or rebuilding this aircraft – we can only talk about building another Mriya, using individual components that can be rescued from the wreckage and combining them with those intended in the 1980s for construction of a second aircraft “. It refers to the second AN-225 aircraft that Antonov has maintained to date in a large laboratory in Kyiv. It was part of an original plan to build two AN-225s, which never came out. “This is a fully finished fuselage, with a new center section already installed on it, as well as the wing and tail transport structure. In other words, almost a complete airplane frame. As far as I know, it was virtually intact during the bombing. “of the plant from the Russian artillery,” says Sovenko.
A new design
There is a major problem with the idea of building an unused aircraft frame with surviving parts from Hostomel: again it will not correspond to 100% of the necessary parts. “It will be impossible to build exactly the same aircraft, with exactly the same design and equipment,” says Sovenko. If that happens, Antonov faces two obstacles: making new and old components work together and possibly having to re-certify the aircraft to confirm its airworthiness and compliance with applicable regulations. The company has experience with the first issue, having updated many of the AN-225 systems over the years and replaced the old Soviet technology with modern Ukrainian counterparts, but a full certification would take time and increase costs. Experts say it is unlikely that the original plane will ever be restored to its former glory. Genya Savilov / AFPGetty Images Unfortunately, this seems to be almost inevitable: “It is pointless to build a 40-year-old aircraft today,” adds Sovenko. “It is also very likely that additional changes will be made to the aircraft design, based on the operational experience of the original.” The AN-225 was never designed to carry commercial cargo and was adapted for work through extensive work performed by Antonov in the late 1990s. However, despite its colossal capacity, the aircraft remained uncomfortable on the crew side. . He has to lower his nose – a maneuver known as “elephant kneeling” – to load the cargo, which is rolled on the ship using custom rails and pulleys. Due to its unique design, only the nose of the plane opens and it does not have a ramp at the rear like its more practical smaller brother, the AN-124. The cargo floor could also use some reinforcement and the degree of compliance of the aircraft with the existing airport infrastructure could be increased by adding to the list of desired improvements a hypothetical modern version of the aircraft.
Millions or billions?
The AN-225 broke many aviation records during its lifetime. Ronny Hartmann / AFP / Getty Images Building a second Myria will not be cheap, but it is difficult to determine exactly how much it would cost. Ukrinform, Ukraine’s national news agency, raised an eyebrow when it said the cost of the operation would be $ 3 billion. In 2018, Antonov estimated that the completion of the second aircraft frame would cost up to $ 350 million, although this amount may need to be revised by now. “Nothing is known for sure at this time,” says Sovenko. “It depends on the amount of certification tests required. But in any case, we can guess that the final amount will be in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars, not billions.” Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Aerodynamic Advisory, agrees: certification, over $ 3 billion “. The real question, says Aboulafia, is who would pay for it? “Isn’t there really a great commercial application for this plane, and without it, where would the money come from?” It is easy to think that most of the costs will be borne by Antonov, but the company has suffered heavy losses due to the destruction of many other aircraft and facilities. although it is still operating at a reduced level, its future is uncertain. “I’m optimistic. I sincerely and deeply hope that Antonov will continue to fly in the skies of the future,” says Sovenko, “but I’m also realistic. with the financial capabilities of Antonov after the war, as well as with the expected income from the operation of this aircraft “.
