Posted on 09/11/2003 7:59:59 PM PDT by ranair34
An international hunt is on to find a flying bomb a stolen Boeing 727 which led to British Airways canceling all flights to Saudi Arabia last week. The plane is a fuel tanker that MI6 and other spy agencies fear is in the hands of al-Qaeda. The search is being coordinated by Richard Dearlove, director of MI6, and George Tenet, the CIA chief. Both President Bush and Tony Blair, on holiday in Barbados, are being kept updated on the search one of the most difficult in aviation history. Hidden somewhere in the vast Sahara desert of East Africa an area the size of Europe the spy chiefs believe the Boeing was poised to launch its attack on a British airliner as it began its descent over Saudi Arabia into Riyadh airport. Suspected al-Qaeda terrorists spotted outside the airport last week are now believed to have been using sophisticated electronic equipment to track British airways flights. They escaped before Saudi police could arrest them. The international agencies involved in the hunt for the Boeing are MI6, Mossad, the CIA and NSA, Americas spy in the sky. All have confirmed the feasibility of the flying bomb destroying a British Airways commercial plane. The attack would require no more than two pilots. Al-Qaeda have a number of such pilots who were trained in Iran. We have been hunting them for some time in Africa, said a Mossad source. The area where the Boeing is believed hidden has little or no radar cover making it almost impossible to track as it took off on its deadly mission. We are certain that the flying bomb will have been re-sprayed in the colors of one of the small airlines operating in central Africa, an intelligence officer involved in the hunt said. That makes it even harder to spot as there are a lot of old 727s flying in Africa, bought cheap from major airlines. The Boeings own navigation system would enable it to intercept a British Airways flight as it descended into Riyadh airport. The crew would be relaxing after their long flight being almost over. They would not be looking out for an attack coming across the Red Sea from Africa. At a closing speed of almost 900 miles, they would have no chance to avoid the flying bomb, said international security expert Ted Gunderson in Washington. The Boeing fuel tanker can carry twice the amount of jet fuel which caused the fireballs that toppled the World Trade Centre in New York. Americas Homeland Security Agency which coordinates all intelligence for President Bush sent out an urgent warning that al-Qaeda has a continuing fixation to use a large plane to launch a spectacular to mark the second anniversary of 9/11. Christopher Yates, a security analyst with Janes Aviation Service in London said: it doesnt take a genius to figure out if you filled up the Boeing tanker to capacity you would have a huge bomb. It was that threat which led to MI6 sending a red alert to British Airways. Americas National Security Agency (NSA) has moved one of its satellites in the Middle East to begin to quarter the Sahara. Intelligence officers have been authorised to pay substantial sums to nomadic Arabs who roam the Sahara for any clues as to where the Boeing is hidden. The last sighting was made two months ago by a Canadian pilot, Robert Strothers. Taking off from Comakry, the seaport capital of Gunea, he claimed he saw the Boeing parked inside a hanger. It had been re-sprayed. But the old registration was still visible, Strothers has told MI6. By the time an MI6 officer from adjoining Sierra Leone had arrived in Guinea, the 727 had gone. It was next reported to have landed at Ndjamrna, an airport in Chad. The country adjoins Sudan. The Sudanese deny the aircraft entered their air space and hinted it had flown north to the Middle East. Last week, the State Department in Washington which has asked all its diplomats in the region to mobilise their resources said that finding the plane is now a top priority. Another urgent concern is to discover the fate of Ben Padilla, the 51 year old American bush pilot who was at the controls of the 727 when it suddenly took off from Luanda airport in Angola on May 25. That afternoon, a still unidentified man had paid for 14,000 gallons of jet fuel with US dollars. Shortly before 5pm, Padilla climbed on board with the man. He was later described as Middle Eastern." Padilla had been at the airport for some weeks. He claimed he represented a Miami company called Aerospace and Leasing, ASL. The company later denied he was working for them. The Luanda airport manager, Helder Preza, said the Boeing had ran up £30,000 of charges while being parked at the airport after being sold on by American Airlines to ASL. Padilla guaranteed payment on ASL notepaper. He was then allowed to carry out essential aircraft maintenance to fly the plane back to Miami. On that May afternoon, he announced to Luanda Air Traffic Control he was going to do engine tests. He fired-up all three engines and rolled the 727 out to the runway. Suddenly, remembers Helder, the plane took off. Padilla and the mystery man were on board. The radio was turned off. The transponder, which would have allowed radar to track the plane, was turned off. In minutes it was gone. Padillas brother, Joe, who lives in Pensacola, Florida, believes his brother was forced to fly some place and is now dead. Gordon Thomas |
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What has happened to a Boeing 727 that mysteriously disappeared ...
American Free Press, D.C. - Aug 24, 2003
... Another urgent concern is to discover the fate of Ben Padilla, the 51-year-old American
bush pilot who was at the controls of the 727 when it suddenly ...
Case of Missing Jetliner Unsolved
Washington Post, DC - Aug 22, 2003
... He said: "[I]f he was alive and knew all this mess was going on, he would contact
us." Another brother had e-mailed Ben Padilla in Africa days before the ...
Google not only can be viewed on your PC -- Google is P.C.
Just type in Stolen Boeing 727 in the searc at FR and you'll find plenty ;_)
Subject: Missing Boeing 727 Plane from Angola on May 25 2003.
Yes,
I am Joseph B. Padilla, SR.
I live in Pensacola, Florida - U.S.A.
I am the Brother of Ben Charles Padilla Jr.
He is suspected to be the Pilot of the Missing Boeing 727
Plane that left the Airport in Angola on May 25 2003.
I am tring to reach news organizations to help me locate anyone that has seen or heard anything about this missing plane or my brother.
I appeared on ABC's , Good Morning Amercia alone with my Sister Benita Padilla-Kirkland on June 19 2003 in hopes to get the story out and to Locate my brother.
We both also appeared on CNN's Morning show, American Morning on June 24 2003.
Can you please help me by broadcasting a story or by your website news or newspaper?
I have alot of information about the dissapearance of the plane and my brother.
You can contact me at : 850-944-9688 or either by e-mail - padilla1956@cox.net
I hope that you will give me your help in hopes that someone seeing the story will either know something about the dissappearance of the plane and my brother or know someone that does.
Here is what I have so far about the story.
As in the begining as I told ABC News on The Good Morning America Show that I appeared on in New York, I thought that the Boeing 727 Plane had been sitting there in Angola for 14 months unattended to and not maintained.
Now, I have found out that My Brother, Ben Charles Padilla, Jr. had been in Angola for 2 months overseeing a crew of aircraft mechanics re-working the plane from one end to the other.
A B-Check was done and it was found to be fine. I talked to the owner of the plane, Mr. Maury Joseph, which is also the owner of Aerospace Sales And Leasing in South Florida.
I too live in florida, Pensacola, Fl. and my brother too was born and raised here.
Maury Joseph told me that he was there in Angola two weeks before the disappearance to see how things were going with the re-build of the 727 and also talked to my brother 2 days before the plane became missing and he had sent my brother $43,000.00 for him to pay the fees to the airport there in Angola. My brother paid the airport and faxed Maury Joseph the reciept, This is what Maury Joseph told me this past friday night during our two and a half hour phone conversation.
My brother was also incharge of the hiring of a pilot and co-pilot. He was to be the Flight Engineer for the flight out of Angola for the repossession of the Boeing 727 plane. My brother is not licensed to fly a 727 and never has flown an aircraft this large.
He is a Licensed Aircraft Mechanic, Flight Engineer, and Pilot of smaller airplanes.
I was told that he had took the plane out to the end of the runway and ran the engines up to check to see how they performed.
I feel that when my brother was checking the engines, someone was on the plane and hijacked him.
My brother isn't a criminal nor has never done any wrong doings.
Maury Joseph told me that he trusts my brother and doesn't believe the reports of my brother stealing the plane. Maury Joseph also told me that he had talked to the Airport there in Angola and had found out that the control tower had radioed the 727 and told them as they were headed out to the runway to take off, that they didn't have clearance nor permission to take off and the tower never recieved a response from the 727.
I talked to my brother Ben Padilla, Jr. back in either Jan. or Feb. and we talked about the Sept. 11 2001 ordeal and he himself told me that if this sort of thing ever happend to him, that he would down the plane in a New York Second. So, with that said I really believe my brother was hijacked and taken prisonier and held against his will and possibly was killed.
My mother had a heart attack on Mothers day and my brother was e-mailed about this and he responded to the e-mail he recieved from another brother of ours and told him that he would contact us as soon as he could and we haven't heard anything from him. So, that tells me that something isn't right since he would of contacted the family about our mother.
I have talked to the FBI and State Department in Washington, D.C. and all they are willing to tell me is that they have not found my brother nor the plane. So, I am tring to search for any information that I can get thru news organizations.
I find alot of stories on the internet and try to get any of the news organizations to run this story.
I also include a couple of pictures of my brother so incase anyone knows anything or has seen him before, to please contact me.
I am including in this e-mail 2 pictures of him incase you run this story inwhich I hope you do.
I would like to include my e-mail address and phone number incase some one reads or sees this that they can contact me. My phone number is, 850-944-9688 and my e-mail address is, padilla1956@cox.net
Our family has already lost 2 siblings and can not bear to lose another one.
I would appreciate any help you can give me. If you need any additional information, Please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you so much for your time.
Joseph B. Padilla, SR.
Posted by: Joseph B. Padilla, SR. on September 9, 2003 10:05 PM
Thanks.
I dunno about a 727, but there's that old legend about smuggling knives into prison by hiding them in a dessert...
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