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Plane in terrorism scare turns up sporting a respray (Missing 727 UPDATE)
The Guardian ^ | 7/7/03 | James Astill

Posted on 07/06/2003 11:25:05 PM PDT by LdSentinal

A Boeing 727 cargo plane which caused panic among US intelligence agencies after mysteriously disappearing from Angola's main airport turned up last week in Guinea, the Guardian can reveal.

The plane, which was feared to be in the hands of international terrorists, was spotted on June 28 in Conakry, Guinea's capital, by Bob Strother, a Canadian pilot. It had been resprayed and given the Guinean registration 3XGOM. But at least the last two letters of its former tail-number, N844AA, were still showing.

The plane, which was recently converted into a fuel tanker, was said to be owned by a member of West Africa's Lebanese business community, and was being used to shuttle goods between Beirut and Conakry, according to Mr Strother.

"There's absolutely no doubt it's the same aircraft, the old registration is clearly visible," said Mr Strother by phone from Conakry. "Whoever owns it must have some important friends to get it re-registered in two days: going by the book, the whole process usually takes a couple of months."

Western intelligence agencies were said to be scouring Africa's clear skies and mouldering runways for the missing tanker, fearing that it could easily be aimed at an American or British embassy on the continent. Yet an American official in the region said this was the first he had heard of the plane since its disappearance from Angola's capital, Luanda, on May 25.

"People have been looking for this thing everywhere," the official said. "We've had reports that it crashed, that it was in South Africa or Nigeria, but nothing for sure, not like what you've just told me."

The Guardian was able to furnish the American official with a photograph of the mystery plane, taken by Mr Strother.

Immediately after the plane's disappearance, unnamed US intelligence sources told the Associated Press that it "mostly likely was taken for a criminal endeavour such as drug or weapons smuggling". But they had "not ruled out the possibility it was stolen for use in a terrorist attack".

A US state department spokesman, Philip Reeker, said at the time: "There is no particular information suggesting that the disappearance of the aircraft is linked to terrorists or terrorism, but it's still something that obviously we would like to get to the bottom of."

A western diplomat in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, said it was more likely the plane had simply been snatched from Luanda be cause its owner was reluctant to pay year-long airport taxes, totalling around £30,000.

"There's always a shady side to business around here," he said. "But as for the terrorism stuff, that sounds like a complete load of rubbish."

Since being sighted last week, the plane has again taken off into obscurity.

"We only saw it that one time, now it's gone," said Mr Strother. "Maybe whoever owns it just wanted to drop by and pick up a Guinean registration for convenience. Maybe it won't be back."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 200307; 3xgom; 727; angola; benjaminpadilla; benpadilla; beoing; bobstrother; bobstrothers; conakry; floridaman; fueltanker; guardian; guinea; hezbollah; hijack; hijacking; iran; lebanese; lebanon; liberia; luandaairfield; luandaairport; missingplane; mobilebomb; n844aa; padilla; repainted; stolenplane; stronger; stronther; stronthers; tailnumber; terrorism; terrorists; theft; uniondestransports; wtc
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1 posted on 07/06/2003 11:25:05 PM PDT by LdSentinal
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To: LdSentinal
Did this guy who spotted it call the newspaper without calling officials who could do something about it? Sheesh. Now its gone again.
2 posted on 07/06/2003 11:32:55 PM PDT by Arkinsaw
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To: LdSentinal
"The plane, which was recently converted into a fuel tanker, was said to be owned by a member of West Africa's Lebanese business community, and was being used to shuttle goods between Beirut and Conakry"

Wow, converted into a "fuel tanker" but being used to shuttle goods, and has now disappeared. There is something very very fishy about this.

A "fuel tanker" could carry chemical agents, or just lots of jet fuel for crashing into a target.

3 posted on 07/06/2003 11:52:39 PM PDT by sd-joe
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To: LdSentinal
This aircraft is no doubt of great concern to our government. It has the potential to be a flying bomb or a bioweapons delivery platform, take your pick.

And where is Mr. Padilla, its missing navigator? Has he ever contacted his family?

4 posted on 07/07/2003 12:43:01 AM PDT by goody2shooz
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To: goody2shooz
It's probably in South America spraying poppy fields for the CIA.
5 posted on 07/07/2003 12:59:56 AM PDT by Howie
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To: Howie
Ooh...such sarcasm!
6 posted on 07/07/2003 1:23:08 AM PDT by goody2shooz
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To: goody2shooz
I meant with weedkiller not fertilizer. Any thing is possible with that bunch, though. One of my buddies flew a DC8 for them for awhile many years ago. Got paid in cash sitting under the wing. Wasn't supposed to look too closely at the cargo or passengers.
7 posted on 07/07/2003 1:34:46 AM PDT by Howie
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To: Howie
I have this nagging feeling that this isn't part of a CIA operation. It wouldn't take much to get that craft over to Libya or Sudan, and from there aim it at a vital allied site.

For example, from the Sudan it would make one hell of a missile to fly into one of our air craft carriers somewhere out in the Gulf of Aden or the eye-oh (Indian Ocean). From Libya it could easily reach our large Navy base located near Naples, Italy.

There was a reason the people who now control that jet had to get a quicky license, and I'll bet it wasn't for commercial purposes. My intuition is screaming that this setup is terror related.

8 posted on 07/07/2003 2:05:51 AM PDT by goody2shooz
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To: All
LINKS OF INTEREST:

GUARDIAN.co.uk: "PLANE IN TERRORISM SCARE TURNS UP SPORTING A RESPRAY" by James Astill in Freetown (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The plane, which was feared to be in the hands of international terrorists, was spotted on June 28 in Conakry, Guinea's capital, by Bob Strother, a Canadian pilot. It had been resprayed and given the Guinean registration 3XGOM. But at least the last two letters of its former tail-number, N844AA, were still showing. The plane, which was recently converted into a fuel tanker, was said to be owned by a member of West Africa's Lebanese business community, and was being used to shuttle goods between Beirut and Conakry, according to Mr Strother. "There's absolutely no doubt it's the same aircraft, the old registration is clearly visible," said Mr Strother by phone from Conakry. "Whoever owns it must have some important friends to get it re-registered in two days: going by the book, the whole process usually takes a couple of months."") (July 7, 2003) (Read More...)
FOX NEWS.com ( AP): "MISSING FUEL-TANKER JET COULD BE USED AS FLYING BOMB" (June 24, 2003) (Read More...)

ABC NEWS.go.com: "HIDE IN PLANE SIGHT Family of Possible 727 Pilot 'He Is Not A Terrorist" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Workers at Luanda Airport in Angola watched dumbfounded on May 25 as a Boeing 727 taxied down the runway and took off -- without permission. The plane -- which ABCNEWS has learned 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.") (June 18, 2003) (Read More...)
VOA NEWS.com: "U.S., ANGOLA SEEK MISSING BOEING 727 JET" by Alex Belida (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Authorities in Africa and the United States are looking for a Boeing 727 jet missing from Angola since late last month under suspicious circumstances. The Boeing 727 has been missing since it took off under mysterious circumstances from Luanda airport in the southwest African country of Angola more than two weeks ago. U.S. government officials tell VOA it was last heard of requesting landing permission in the Seychelles off the coast of East Africa but never arrived there. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the aircraft's disappearance looks like a criminal act. But with memories still fresh of the bloody September 11 terrorist plane hijackings in the United States almost two years ago, the officials say they have to remain open to the possibility that terrorism may be involved in the case of the vanishing 727. Authorities in Angola say the plane took off illegally on Sunday, May 25. The country's minister of transportation later indicated the aircraft's disappearance would lead to stepped up security at Luanda airport.") (June 11, 2003) (Read More...)

9 posted on 07/07/2003 2:10:40 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: LdSentinal
"There is no particular information suggesting that the disappearance of the aircraft is linked to terrorists or terrorism,

Perhaps not but the persons with the plane would appear to be well connected with an organized criminal operation of some sort (who got the plane's information updated in 2 days).

Some of the hijackers on 9/11 had fake US driver's licenses. A woman in Tennessee (who later was murdered after her arrest) was caught selling real licenses to illegal immigrant middle easterners. It doesn't mean that she (or they) were connected to terrorists either but it does provide a security breach that terrorists can exploit and the officials willingly look the other way.

10 posted on 07/07/2003 2:30:30 AM PDT by weegee
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To: Arkinsaw
Did this guy who spotted it call the newspaper without calling officials who could do something about it? Sheesh. Now its gone again.

Wouldn't be the first time. I seem to recall another British article last year where some investigation was botched as a double agent or suspected terrorist was outed before he could be apprehended.

But that journalist sure got the scoop.

WWII would not have been won if these writers had been in the game back then (although their editors or local censor boards would have probably squashed the stories).

11 posted on 07/07/2003 2:34:29 AM PDT by weegee
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To: LdSentinal
I'm inclined to go with the simplist explanation for this. That is it's drug traffic and not terrorist related. HTen again...too bad we didn't get to it sooner but I wonder if the pilot filed some kind of flight plan when it took off. Even a fake FP might give a few leads.

prisoner6

12 posted on 07/07/2003 2:51:47 AM PDT by prisoner6 ( Right Wing Nuts hold the country together as the loose screws of the left fall out!)
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To: LdSentinal
N844AA

A US registered plane missing from Angola?

13 posted on 07/07/2003 3:53:35 AM PDT by azhenfud ("for every government action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction")
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To: Dog
More info on that plane...
14 posted on 07/07/2003 3:57:55 AM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: Miss Marple
Go to this website:
http://www.airliners.net/advsearch/
under "registration", type "N844AA" and select search.
Photos of AC are available.
15 posted on 07/07/2003 6:01:14 AM PDT by azhenfud ("for every government action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction")
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To: azhenfud
What an interesting site, and interesting photos!

Thanks!

16 posted on 07/07/2003 6:15:38 AM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: goody2shooz
it would make one hell of a missile to fly into one of our air craft carriers...

"missile" spelled "T-A-R-G-E-T". I would be amazed if it made it within ten miles of the carrier.

17 posted on 07/07/2003 7:25:01 AM PDT by fourdeuce82d
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To: Miss Marple
Here's another:

http://www.jetphotos.net/census/

Regards,
Az
18 posted on 07/07/2003 7:27:36 AM PDT by azhenfud ("for every government action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction")
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To: goody2shooz
it would make one hell of a missile fireball when it tried to fly into one of our air craft carriers.

There that's better. Aircraft Carriers are protected by multiple levels of electronic and physical protection. A hostile aircraft couldn't get within ten miles of a flattop.

19 posted on 07/07/2003 7:32:48 AM PDT by CholeraJoe (White Devils for Sharpton. We're baaaaad. We're Nationwide)
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To: azhenfud
Oops, wrong link,

http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?ids=64000,49611
20 posted on 07/07/2003 7:39:13 AM PDT by azhenfud ("for every government action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction")
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