Family of Possible 727 Pilot: He Is Not A Terrorist

ABC News Exclusive ^ | June 19, 2003 | Invesigative Team staff report

[ewing]

The family of a man believed to have been piloting a Boeing 727 that mysteriously took off and disappeared from an Angolan runway last month told told of their angiush as international authorities fear the jetliner could be used for a terrorist act.

In a baffling vanishing act, workers at the Luanda Airport in Angola watched dumbfounded on May 25 as the Boeing 727 taxied down the runway and took off- without permission.

The plane -which ABC News has learned was refitted to haul diesel fuel tanks, making it a potential flying bomb-has not been seen since.

The man the United States Government suspects of piloting the 727 Benjamin Padilla-a US citizen from Florida.

Padilla too, has vanished, and his family is worried.

'I am concerned that he might have been hijacked,' Padilla brother said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

[MizSterious]

You've just missed it. Do a search on "Angola" and you'll turn up articles since May 28. Using other search words might turn up more. Something mentioned in one of the more recent ones is that the seats have been removed and replaced with fuel tanks. Sounds ominous to me, but there might be an innocent explanation.

[Trust but Verify]

I wouldn't rule it out. This should and is being taken very seriously. I take the family's word for it that they don't beleive he could be involved with terrorists, but let's face it, we've heard that before. And it sounds like he's a bit of a free spirit making it difficult for the family to know what he's really been up to. I think they fear more that he is dead due to crashing in the plane or meeting his end through foul play.

[Howlin]

I wonder is he's related to this guy?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/698951/posts

[Trust but Verify]

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. This plane will turn up and it'll be loaded with something very nasty when it does.

While that is certainly possible, it's a long way from certainty.

[Weimdog]

He's not going very far.

727 Maximum Range -
Range with maximum payload: 2,140 nautical miles. Range with maximum fuel: 2,400 nautical miles.

http://members.tripod.com/~cyberpilot/boeing_home.htm

And without the proper flight plan he can't get permission to land or refuel at any major airports.

[ewing]

Pretty big pucker factor when I heard that the seats were taken out inside the jet to hold Diesel Fuel tanks..

[cherry]

fox had a story on this last night...apparently, according ot the "locals" the plane was stripped from the inside, and I am not kidding, gas tanks put inside....

why are we just hearing about this now is an understatement.

[MizSterious]

In Africa, I understand a lot of those rules are either non-existant or greatly relaxed. If he's carrying full fuel tanks instead of seats, would that give it wider range?

[ewing]

We were doing the mathmatics on this last night on a similar thread, a veTeran pilot said that getting refueling would not be hard in West Africa paying cash where 5-10% of the country is covered by radar and that the hollowed out plane had a range of getting to London, but not to NYC..

[Ayn Rand wannabe]

If gas tanks were added, couldn't you just land anywhere and refuel? The range could be much more than 2400 miles.

[TomGuy]

"refitted to haul diesel fuel tanks"

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. This plane will turn up and it'll be loaded with something very nasty when it does.

Yes, especially if a large quantity of diesel fuel and fertilizer disappear.

If a small truck with diesel/fertilizer blew off half of the Murrah building from 100 feet away, just think what damage a 727 filled with diesel fuel and fertilizer could do.

[ewing]

[RJL]

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. This plane will turn up and it'll be loaded with something very nasty when it does.

While that is certainly possible, it's a long way from certainty.

Shipping diesel fuel by airliner makes very little sense, financial or otherwise. When one looks to a scenario that does make sense, it’s kinda scary.

[Weimdog]

There is still the maximum payload issue. If the plane is too heavy it won't get off the ground. The maximum range fully loaded with ANYTHING is 2,100 miles.

[ewing]

The Serbs did this in 1994 to detonate a quasi nuclear explosion according to a widely circulated War paper on Google from the Generals Leadership College at Leavenworth.

The first explosion (jet fuel) leaves fumes and the second (diesel) magnifies the blast.

What happened at the WTC was really a 0.5 ton mini nuke in NYC because of the structural damage to the buildings around there. The jet fuel still in the air maginifed the blast to the surrounding buildings

[ewing]

He couldn't put diesel in his 727 tanks..

[ewing]

He could confuse a lot of folks with a stolen transponder..

[Ayn Rand wannabe]

i know he can't put diesel in...my boyfriend is a pilot... but if the tanks were full of jet fuel, even with the maximum range being 2100 miles, couldn't it be further?

Or am i going completely the wrong way? :-P

[ewing]

I think you are correct, max 2,100 miles..

[MizSterious]

Probably he could, which is not very reassuring...steal one from a legitimate but perhaps unused airliner, paint the logo on the plane, and maybe it could pass for that plane. Add to the recipe a country either hostile to us or neutral but bribe-happy to help with refueling or landing, it might cook up a real disaster. But pilots might know more about these possibilities?