Story Of Missing Plane/Angola and It's Pilot

In a baffling aviation vanishing act, workers at 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 was refitted to haul diesel fuel tanks, making it a potential flying bomb -- has not been seen since.

The man the U.S. government suspects of piloting the 727 is Benjamin Padilla -- a U.S. citizen from Florida. Padilla, too, has vanished, and his family is worried.

"I am concerned that he might have been hijacked," Padilla's brother, Joseph, said in an exclusive interview with ABCNEWS.

"It's very painful," said Padilla's sister, Benita Kirkland Padilla. "The whole family is in anguish, not knowing what happened to our brother."

The last time the family heard from Padilla was on May 14, when Benita received an e-mail from her brother informing her that he was on his way to Africa and would get in touch with his ailing mother as soon as he returned home.

But more than a month since their last communication, Padilla has not yet returned home. And with international authorities concerned that the missing jetliner could be used for terrorist purposes, the family maintains that he would never be involved in such a plan.

"Personally, I do not believe he has done anything criminal or terrorist-related," Benita told 'Good Morning America' today.

The family believes Padilla, a licensed mechanic and pilot, flew to Angola on behalf of Aerospace Sales and Leasing, a Florida-based company that bought the 727 from American Airlines two years ago. The plane had not been moved for more than a year, and his family believes Padilla went to see whether it was fit to fly.

Neither Padilla's family nor ABCNEWS has been able to reach anyone at Aerospace Sales and Leasing. No one was at the office when ABCNEWS visited Wednesday and phone calls were not answered.

Despite the use of satellites to scour the African landscape, and a request to all African embassies for information, U.S. officials said they still have no clue about the plane's location.

"We don't have any reliable assessments about what this portends, what it could be, who may be behind it," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Joseph fears that his brother may have lost control of the plane's hydraulics after taking off and is concerned for his safety.

"If the plane has gone into the water, satellites can't make it out," he told 'Good Morning America' today.

Most intelligence officials believe the plane was stolen to run drugs or guns, or as part of an insurance scam.

However, they have not ruled out the possibility the plane is in the hands of terrorists -- perhaps plotting to target U.S. embassies in Africa.

But Benita said she was sure her brother, whom she described as a man with "a sort of nomadic nature," would never voluntarily get involved in any plot against his country's interests. "He was a patriot, he loved his country, he loved to fly," she said.

June 10 -- The U.S. government has secretly launched an intensive campaign to find a Boeing 727 passenger jet that mysteriously disappeared in Africa three weeks ago, sources told ABCNEWS.

Intelligence agencies have used satellites to try to locate the plane, the CIA is working its human sources in Africa, and embassies in Africa have been informed of the disappearance and asked to provide any information they may come across, sources said.

The plane's status is discussed every morning in meetings at various intelligence agencies and congressional intelligence committees. A number of government officials told ABCNEWS everyone is frustrated.

"When an aircraft of this size has been missing for so long it does raise some questions as to where it is and what it's being used for," said Chris Yates, editor of the London-based specialist publication Jane's Civil Aviation Security.

The Boeing 727 is 153 feet long and weighs 191,000 pounds.

Many Options

The plane disappeared out of Angola on May 25. But a government official says the Angolans do not know whether it was bound for Burkina Faso, South Africa, Libya or Nigeria. It's also not clear how many people were on board.

Some U.S. officials believe the plane may have been stolen to run drugs or guns. Others suspect it may have been crashed for insurance money.

American officials have so far turned up no evidence the disappearance is related to terrorism, but no one knows for certain, but the plane's disappearance raises some troubling security questions.

"It's extraordinarily troubling that you can literally disappear off the face of the Earth once you are airborne and fly across a continent like Africa," Yates said.

Other issues that officials cite include:

· The lack of security at many African and Third World airports.

· The limited oversight of flights in some African countries. Preliminary research shows some countries don't require flight plans.

· The security of the international aviation market. Could this plane resurface in legitimate aviation without anyone knowing, or change hands on the black market? How secure are we when an airliner can go unaccounted for?

The most worrying possibility is that the plane might be used as a flying missile against a U.S. target in the manner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"An aircraft could be either stolen or hijacked overseas, fly to the U.S., on schedule, and it wouldn't be seen on FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] radar, if it didn't want to be seen, until the very last minute," said Richard Clarke, former White House terrorism czar.

The chance of that happening is slim, Clarke said. "The government believes the plane would not have enough fuel to reach the U.S."

But that doesn't rule out an attack on a U.S. embassy or facility overseas in Africa — making U.S. officials no less intent on finding the missing airliner.

It is curious, too, that Aerospace Sales and Leasing (FL) wouldn't have anyone "available".

Drugs and guns? No way. A 727 is way too recognizable, especially when it's known that one has been stolen. People will be looking for it. It's also too big to land at the small, obscure strips/fields "druggists" prefer. You just can't "blend in" with this bird.

The man the U.S. government suspects of piloting the 727 is Benjamin Padilla -- a U.S. citizen from Florida.

Isn't that the same last name of the terrorist from Chicago that was trying to make a dirty bomb about a year ago?

That's right. Jose Padilla. Pretty common name -- like Susan Smith.

I, too, wonder why Padilla's employer doesn't answer the phone.

Aerospace Leasing & Sales
15001 Northwest 42nd Avenue, Opa Locka, FL 33054
(305) 688-9720

>>...Isn't that the same last name of the terrorist from Chicago that was trying to make a dirty bomb about a year ago?...<<

Don't forget Jose Padilla connected to the Oklahoma City bombing.

I wonder if this ad is for the same 727: aviatorsale.com

Aircraft >> Large Transport Jet >>
Seperator Line

1978 Boeing 727

Other Aircrafts aerospace sales & leasing co. inc has for sale or lease



Serial no.:	21384

Registration No.:	N872AA

Manufacture year.:	1978

Price.:	Inquire

Add Type.:	Sale

Aircraft, General.:	ex-American Airlines B727-223

Avionics.:	Dual overwater equipped

Interior.:	E-mail for specs

Exterior.:	E-mail for specs

Time since new.:	E-mail for specs

Cycles since New.:	E-mail for specs

Weights.:	E-mail for specs

Engines.:	Jt8D-9a's

Propeller.:	N/A

Auxiliary Power Unit.:	E-mail for specs

Equipment.:	E-mail for specs

Seller.:	aerospace sales & leasing co. inc frank molinaris 15001 nw 42 ave bld 47 33054 - opa locka Florida USA Phone : 305-688-9720 Fax : 305-688-9725