(CNN) — The images that came out of Tripoli International Airport in August 2011 have become defining symbols of the downfall of the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, the autocrat who ruled Libya with an iron fist for over four decades.

Rebel forces had just taken control of the country’s airport and captured a major prize.

Short of capturing Gadhafi himself — Libya’s ousted leader would be killed by rebel forces weeks later — they had taken hold of one of his gaudiest symbols of power.

Bullets and shrapnel had riddled the fuselage of the four-engined Airbus A340-200 aircraft, but the interior was still intact.

Foreign journalists were soon invited on board to see it for themselves.

One after another, the innermost chambers of Libya’s presidential plane — by that point occupied by Kalashnikov-toting rebel militiamen — revealed their secrets: a hot tub, a private cinema, a mirror-lined master bedroom and more.

Although on the outside it looked like just another airliner of Libya’s flag…