A new video of an Antonov An-225 taking off from Kyiv has received hundreds of thousands of hits in just a couple of weeks, after its unique perspective was noticed by aviation fans and the general public.
The take off is shot from a drone positioned at the end of the runway, with the Antonov, one of the world's largest aircraft, flying seemingly within metres of the drone.
The video also shows the aircraft landing at its destination of Leipzig.
Over the years there have been only a few drone videos of planes, the most popular being one taken of an Emirates A380 taking off. That video racked up nearly one million viewers.
The owner of that video and the drone used to film it weren't identified, which might have something to do with the fact they would be in for some pretty hefty fines and penalties if they were ever found.
Taken in Mauritius, the footage (which can be viewed in the main video above this article) was so alarming many had labeled it a fake.
However experts analysed the footage frame-by-frame and confirmed its authenticity.
As the new video of the Antonov An-225 is quite long, I've highlighted some key times in the video you might want to skip directly to, should you not have a spare 16 minutes to watch.
Antonov video key moments:
- The beginning of the take-off roll begins at 3:25
- The video cuts to the first shot from the drone at 3:58
- You start to think you're too close at 4:30
- You'll likely say "wow" at 4:38
- And, you're back in the cockpit at 4:49
Both of these videos come with very strong "don't try this at home" warnings.
The Civil Aviation Authority has some very strict guidelines and penalties around inappropriate drone use in New Zealand.
