I hope "VP8" can dispel these rumours! Well, I hope these are just rumours...
Below was taken from
http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/dac-chat/56446-225-mriya-news.html :
"Those of you who know of and care about Antonov's An-225 Mriya will be sad to hear this news.
I have it on good authority that the aircraft has been seriously damaged on the ground at Ras Al Khaimah airport (OMRK/RKT) in the United Arab Emirates sometime last week. I can find no news on the web of the incident after much Googling.
I have seen pictures of the damage caused by some sort of hydraulic rupture around the lower nose area which resulted in the dual nosegears being literally torn from their mountings. This caused massive structural deformation to the floor in that area. The nose cargo door was being opened which compounded the problem because the fuselage had lost the structural rigidity to better withstand the force. Flying shrapnel caused further damage to the airframe including the wings
The ramp at RAK (not the largest) is pretty well blocked bringing what little other traffic there is to a halt. I haven't been able to check NOTAMs for the airport, but I'm sure operations there are badly affected.
Apparently the dilemma is whether or not to repair this nearly unique aircraft. Having been bult in such small numbers (only two exist and I'm not certain if the second one is flying yet) spares are not exactly easily available.
There's an urgency, from the airport authorities, to remove it from the ramp. There's the distance of RKT from the Ukraine and the Antonov factory. The airframe is now structurally compromised, so cannot be flown. There's no hangarage at the airport and we have the imminent heat of the Arabian summer with temperatures up to 50C/120F, dust storms etc. Not the ideal conditions to conduct lengthy repairs, even if they're possible, out in the open.
I've asked to be emailed some pictures. I'll post them here, if I can, when I get them.
If anyone can find any news to verify any of this, that would be nice. "
If
http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/3357666 is to be believed the poster above is a 747 pilot himself, not someone trying to pull tricks...
"VP8", can you put our minds at rest?
