Hide in Plane Sight (Authorities fear Boeing 727 stolen in Angola may be used in terrorism)

ABC News ^ | June 18, 2003 | Pierre Thomas

[Cindy]

re posts 39,40...adding on...

USA TODAY.com: "PURSUIT OF AL-QAEDA KEEPS COMING BACK TO FLORIDA" by Richard Willing (June 15, 2003) (Read More...)

An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding this MIAMI HERALD.com article: "FBI SEES TERROR; FAMILY SEES GOOD SON Ex-Resident of Miramar Being Sought in Terror Case" (March 31, 2003) (Read More...)

[Ronin]

Any dessert landing and the thing would never take off again. Any idea how much a 727 weighs?

I don't, but I do know that the kind of under-carriage, shock absorbers and fat wide tires it would need for even a rough-strip landing would be a major exercise in refit and I very seriously doubt that it has ever been done for that class of bird.

Nope. Commercial airliners need runways. Long, flat, hard-surfaced and clear. The only real question in my mind is whether or not the added internal fuel tanks were connected to the aircrafts onboard fuel system. If that's the case, it is anyone's guess how long that sucker's range is.

[illumini]

It would take 5 minutes to steal a 727.

[Dog]

There was an article posted on FR yesterday morning and now I can't locate it....it mentioned the US governement is on the look out for this Ben Padilla and there was another name mentioned a John Mikel Mutuantu.

Did Jose Padilla(dirty bomber) have a relative named Ben Padilla?

[Coop]

I think the CIA and NSA would be more effective if they read Tom Clancy's novels before these things happen... Obviously, bin Laden and cohorts are reading Clancy -- has the CIA?

So now you want the CIA and NSA to intervene before things even occur? Perhaps we should contract the services of Madame Olga when she's not working the midnight to 4 a.m. phone lines.

[Coop]

Didn't see the article, nor do I know if the two Padilla's are related. But the name in this article sure did get my attention.

[eyespysomething]

I just did a Google search for Padilla and Florida. It seems to be a common name.

I did find one interesting article though from June 2002: Al Qaeda Network Operating In U.S., CBS News. A little info I never knew.

Of course, none of this has to do with missing planes in Africa.

does it?

[eyespysomething]

What was that Tom Cruise movie? Minority Report?

[thinking]

There are only a few airports that could handle a fully loaded B-737...given the heat and humidity of Africa, I would guess that the loaded aircraft would require 5000 to 7000 feet of paved runway to get it airborne.

[thinking]

sorry, read in B-727....

[New Horizon]

Ahhh!!!
Here's another one!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/931789/posts

[Prodigal Son]

It would take 5 minutes to steal a 727.

Yeah well, maybe for you James Bond types. It would take me a lot longer than five minutes to steal a 727. First I'd have to find the trailer hitch on the thing.

[aristeides]

Family Defends Pilot of Plane Missing in Angola

Thu June 19, 2003 11:32 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Florida family of a U.S. pilot suspected of flying a Boeing 727 that went missing in Angola last month, said on Thursday they did not believe he was involved in planning terror attacks with the plane. The United States has been trying to track down the unidentified plane that took off without permission from the Angolan capital of Luanda on May 25, mainly due to fears the plane might be used to launch attacks against U.S. interests.

ABC News said the pilot was believed to be Benjamin Padilla, whose family described him as a U.S. patriot who they did not believe was involved in any criminal activities.

The pilot's brother, Joseph Padilla, said he understood the plane had been parked at Luanda's Airport for 14 months and he feared the hydraulics of the aircraft had been damaged.

"My fear of the plane is that he took off and the plane lost hydraulics. Any of this stuff with terrorists, I don't really believe. I believe he was hired to check the plane," Padilla told ABC's "Good Morning America" show.

The Miami company listed on aviation Web sites as the plane's owner, Aerospace Sales & Leasing Co. Inc, could not be reached for comment.

The United States is particularly sensitive to missing planes because of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 when four planes were hijacked to hit targets in New York and Washington.

Padilla said the FBI contacted him in Pensacola, Florida, and told him they believed his brother, a licensed mechanic and pilot, had been hired to check out the plane in Angola.

Speaking on the same program, the pilot's sister said she last heard from him via e-mail on May 14 soon after their mother suffered a heart attack and that he told them he was on his way to Africa.

"I personally do not believe he has done anything criminal or terrorist-related. I think if he has gotten into some situation, that is perhaps less than legal, he did it unwillingly or unknowingly," said Benita Padilla-Kirkland.

Last week, the State Department said it had asked U.S. embassies and missions in Africa to contact local and civil aviation authorities for information about the plane.

ABC News reported the plane had been refitted to haul diesel fuel tanks, making it a potential flying bomb and that Padilla, a licensed mechanic and pilot, had flown to Angola on behalf of a Florida-based company that bought the 727 from a major U.S. airline two years ago.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2956507.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks.

[Shermy]

IMO, sounds like a repo. Extra tanks added so a refueling, and landing, in West Africa unneeded. Non-stop flight across the Atlantic to USA, Caribean state maybe. "Diesel" tanks really holding jet fuel. Adapted to flow directly into the main tanks, or by some contrivance landing at a West African airsstrip unmonitored by the usual air authorities.

[aristeides]

But there have been reports that U.S. intel was looking for the plane. Would they have been, if this was a repo?

[CyberAnt]

"Any idea how much a 727 weighs?"

I have no idea either! But your information was helpful. Thanks.

Since it seems to be the general concensus the aircraft was very low on fuel, it either crashed or landed somewhere very close to refuel.

Can these aircraft be fueled mid-air ...??

[FreedomCalls]

Can these aircraft be fueled mid-air ...??

Read my post again! The passenger seats were all taken out and replaced with 10 large fuel tanks each connected to each other. It would be a fairly easy adaption to route those tanks to the plane's own fuel supply giving it virtually unlimited range.

[piasa]

If it was a repo, wouldn't the family know their relative was in the repo business? This plane's been missing for a while- wouldn't the people repoing it have informed the gov of its new locale so as to avoid trouble down the line?

Rather than a repo, the gov thinks there is a possibility the plane is being hid from people interested in repoing the thing. At least that would explain why no one is coming forward to clear things up. In that case the owner might be trying to keep it out of the repo guy's hands long enough to sell it illegally.

And if sold illegally, unfortunately, there's a reasonable chance it could be sold to terrorists.