07-03-2025
Watch: Crowds turn out for rare sighting of giant Antonov plane at MSP Airport
Crowds gathered at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport viewing area Friday morning for a rare sight: the departure of an Antonov An-124.
The giant craft, the heaviest operating cargo plane in the world currently, arrived in the Twin Cities on Thursday evening, and took off for California at 8:10 a.m. Friday.
The An-124 is the little brother of the even-more-gigantic Antonov An-225 Mriya, which was built in the 1960s and had six jet engines, but was destroyed in 2022 when Russia attacked Ukraine.
While dozens of An-124s were made, they remain a rare sight in the Twin Cities. From what we can tell, the last time one made the trip to MSP was in 2021.
The final plane developed under the guidance of General Designer Oleg K. Antonov, the four-engine An-124 began flying in the 1980s and is capable carrying 150 tons of cargo.
A large crowd accumulated at the viewing area just off Hwy. 77 to capture Friday morning's takeoff.
View the 7 images of this gallery on the original article
