[RoughDobermann]

He said a firm that had leased the plane from Aerospace Sales -- a company whose name he said he couldn't recall -- had removed the seats and replaced them with fuel tanks.

Great...

[Lazamataz]

CAP in America will prevent much mayhem.

[Frank_Discussion]

I seriously hope this is just someone yanking some chains. Fuel Tanks will do a lot more damage than a load of human beings.

[SevenDaysInMay]

This news has been flying around for weeks. Even the NYT will eventually pick it up.

"African Orphans Airlines" logo as the long range tanks allows one trans-Atlantic flight?

Israel, UK, oil shipping in or near Suez, Red Sea, or Persian Gulf, Atlantic, Indian, or Med. deployed USN?

Despite the Democrats' open 5th column sapping, we are at WAR because our mortal enemies of Pan-Islam are at war against us, since 1991.

[Zavien Doombringer]

ALL YOUR JETLINERS ARE BELONG TO US!!

[Arkie2]

This could be as simple as the owner reclaiming his property. It's happened before. I know a pilot who flew a DC-8 out of South America solo because it had been seized as part of a financial dispute.

[Ranxerox]

Anybody know what effect, if any, a plane sitting on the tarmac for 14 months has on its mechanical condition? Can you merely "turn the key" and take-off?

[MizSterious]

Wonder if all that "chatter" they're talking about could be related to this?

[MizSterious]

FYI

[Maringa]

The concern that I have about this situation is that if was simply an owner wanting to gain repossession of his aircraft, there would have already been confirmation of this. Repossessions are easily verifiable. This is a stolen aircraft for nefarious purposes....

[ewing]

How far could this guy fly without getting noticed?

[Jhoffa_]

..a company whose name he said he couldn't recall -- had removed the seats and replaced them with fuel tanks.

LOL!

And they think it might be terrorism related?

Gee, imagine..

[Jhoffa_]

PS: Wouldn't there normally be a transponder signal coming from this plane?

[_Jim]

I think this sume it up -

From: post 87

Poster: international hog driver

posted 1st June 2003 07:42

I think you guys are getting paranoid, up there in the real world and obviously some of you have never worked in the third world.

If and I stress the word “IF” this was a terrorist type thing then I can think of a lot more countries with a lot more aircraft scattered around them that are closer to Europe and North America.

Check out the African forum and read into what has been said and “may” get an understanding about what happened.

The reality of what goes on is these places will astound some of you in the oversensitive, tree hugging nandy pandy, nimby, ‘free’ world.

Airside security does not exist to those that are determined, think of the shoe shine kids and hangar rats everywhere in Africa, the families that were living in the grass beside the runway in manila, and the millions of places out there that jets go to where the runway is simply a wide pedestrian crossing built through the middle of town.

You don’t need to ask what goes on, you don’t publicise that stuff in public forum people like to sit back in there chairs and say ooohh, isn’t that bad, doesn’t the world need to fix that. Gimme a break, in southwest Africa alone billions of dollars go missing every year from government coffers, more than enough than enough to run the whole WFP program for ever.

The day that the WFP are making food drops by Herc and 727 in France is that day that people will understand the third world having never been there.

Ok rant over, wake up and smell the coffee, it has nothing to do with osama bin hiding.

[_Jim]

And I think this is why - post 94

Poster: fesmokie

posted 29th May 2003 14:19

N844AA

If I'm not mistaken, that is the aircraft that we ferried from MIA to Luanda for a THIEF known as Keith Irwin out of Jo- Burg. It was an Ex AA pax B-727.

That aircraft is a full blown fuel hauler and if in the wrong hands could be a serious threat however, I would guess at this point it was just the repo man claiming his property.

Keith Irwin brought a crew of six over from the states to operate this aircraft and after two months on the project, the crew left without collecting a single pay check. He also owed several other people lots of money and may have got in trouble for buying a HOT HF radio, stolen from the Angolan military and they may have had something to do with seizing the aircraft originally. Who knows.

[gridlock]

From Michael Costello's Blog

Jetliner Missing?

Intelligence services have been seeking stolen Boeing 727 for about 3 weeks now. The plane would make a particularly lethal weapon as is was fitted as a tanker, rather than a passenger plane. It could carry a lot of fuel or explosives and would make an efficient missile if a suicide terrorist were at the controls.

A number of explanations have been offered for the plane's disappearance, including that the heist was actually a repossession.

I have my own, based upon Democratic Party reasoning. The plane never really existed in the first place.

-------------------

Seems reasonable to me. I mean, it's been three whole weeks and Africa is not that big. Clearly the WMD 727 was just a figment of the CIA's imagination.

[Ann Archy]

They didn't follow it by RADAR???? I can't BELIEVE that!! If they tried to get the pilot to answer and he didn't what DIMWIT thought...oh, well....wonder where he's going???? Sounds fishy.