--- title: "Watch A Giant An-124 Condor Land At St. Maarten’s Famous Airport For Hurricane Recovery" description: "The Ukrainian cargo aircraft arrived at the storm ravaged island with relief supplies including what appear to be garbage trucks." date: "2017-10-01" modified: "2017-10-01" authors: - name: "Tyler Rogoway" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/tyler-rogoway" url: "https://www.twz.com/14778/watch-a-giant-an-124-condor-land-at-st-maarten-for-hurricane-recovery" categories: - "Air" - "Americas" - "An-124" - "Around The Globe" - "News & Features" - "Transports" tags: - "An-124" - "Antanov Airlines" - "Cargo Haulers" - "Condor" - "hurricane" - "Hurricane Irma" - "Hurricane Recovery" - "Maho Beach" - "Princess Juliana Airport" - "St. Maarten" --- # Watch A Giant An-124 Condor Land At St. Maarten’s Famous Airport For Hurricane Recovery ![]() *www.twz.com* One of the world's largest aircraft, the [An-124 Condor](), made its grand arrival at St. Maarten's famous Princess Juliana Airport today. Owned and operated by Ukraine's Antonov Airlines, the transport made the flight from the Dutch island of Curacao, which is located off the northern tip of Venezuela. The one hour and 34 minute flight covered roughly 560 miles—a relatively short hop for the An-124. The aircraft carried emergency supplies for storm ravaged St. Maarten, including [a number of garbage trucks]() which will clearly be invaluable when it comes to the cleanup and rebuilding effort. A unique arrival to the island like this would not be complete without a video of the moment shot from Maho Beach—possibly the most [famous plane spotting location]() in the entire world. Check out the video of the Condor's up-close and personal landing below: https://twitter.com/_/status/914195804512034817 The An-124's departure wasn't as dramatic as the jet was empty and only flying a short 30 minute leg to the island of St. Johns. When loaded up, they are known to use a [lot of pavement]() to claw their way into the air. The damage on St. Maarten is bewildering, with [90% of all structures damaged]() or destroyed and 30% totally destroyed. Aircraft have been a key lifeline for the island, and there has been a near constant stream of airlifters making their way to and from the island in recent weeks. These aircraft have brought critical supplies needed to sustain St. Maarten's citizens as well as evacuating some residents and visitors. Aside from the military aircraft and chartered flights, Samaritan's Purse has made runs to the isalnd with their gorgeous DC-8. https://twitter.com/_/status/914293136175845378 Here is a Armée de l'Air, A400M arriving at the island with supplies: https://youtube.com/embed/t2oVdQtWbGc With so much destruction in the region from multiple hits by some of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history, international aid can't be concentrated on just one locale. Making things worse, with the U.S. facing its own harrowing aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, resources that could otherwise be brought to bear on islands like St. Maarten are being diverted to the American territory. But there are some good signs, one of which is that airplane spotters are already back on what's left of Maho Beach, capturing the aviation action. If anything this is at least an obscure sign that things are slowly returning to some form of normalcy, although there is clearly a long and arduous road for the island paradise. *Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com* ## Author Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site *Foxtrot Alpha* before developing *TWZ*, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day. ### Author social links [Twitter]()