Stolen Boeing 727 Feared In Hands of al-Qaeda

Bush Country ^ | 091103 | Gordon Thomas

[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, America’s 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 Boeing’s 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.
America’s 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 Jane’s Aviation Service in London said: “it doesn’t 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.

America’s 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”. Padilla’s brother, Joe, who lives in Pensacola, Florida, believes his brother was “forced to fly some place and is now dead”.

Gordon Thomas

[DaGman]

This is an ongoing story from the last several months. This one had me going until this:

"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."

According to GlobalAircraft.org cruising speed is 570 - 605 mph. 900 mph would tear the craft apart.

This story is serious enough. It doesn't need hysterical hype.

[JSteff]

"As stated on previous threads, the idea that you could "hide" a 727 in the *dessert* is impossible. Airliners need runways"

Uhm, explain then how a 747 loaded with a shuttle can take off and land at Edwards. Edwards, if you are not aware, is a big, well, desert. The do it all the time. Deserts can be as hard as concrete, yet have some flex that is less wearing on the craft.
Not a dessert. That is defined as "A usually sweet course or dish, as of fruit, ice cream, or pastry, served at the end of a meal." and of course no plane can take off and land on a pastry. Unless that is what you meant.
So I guess you were right then. You could neither hide nor take off an airliner from a bowl of ice cream or a tart... or any other dessert.

[JSteff]

Now I don't know if I believe the story of this thread, but it is not hard to "hide" a large plane in the desert.

"I share your difficulty in believing that you could hide a plane "

Maybe you never heard of the large bombers from WWII in the Sahara. They were discovered over the years since WWII. They sat in relatively plain view in the desert. NO one saw them for DECADES. B25's B24's B17's.

They were finally found... after decades... but if this story were true we don't have decades.

[CanisRex]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/edwards.htm

Edward's has a 24,000 foot runway. We'd know if there was a multi-mile runway in the sahara, i'd wager.

[Publius6961]

I just hope the sandmaggots have a lot of very good training, if they hope to hit another airliner with an overloaded tanker.
Hitting a skyscraper is one thing. Hitting a moving target which can take evasive action is another thing entirely.

[JSteff]

They have several runways, but they do not need 24000 feet to land a 727. Flaps down, reverse engines, steady braking, cut the power, less than 3000... maybe 2500 or less.

Go ahead, try it in Microsoft Flight simulator.
Fun side note: My brother landed a Gulf Stream on a carrier in Flight Sim. Took probably several hundred tries, but he did it. Carrier at full speed 27 knots into a 40 mph head wind, reverse engines, increasing braking. :-)

[Publius6961]

The extra fuel capacity could give the plane a greater flight range. However, if the bad guys are planning to use the explosive/fire impact of the extra fuel, they would likely attack some target other than a plane in flight.

Mecca would be a good target and almost impossible to miss.

[steve86]

At a closing speed of almost 900 miles... 900 mph would tear the craft apart.

What is so hard to understand about closing speed?

450+450=900. 600+300=900. And so on.

Although I can't see the pilot actually intercepting the opposing plane head-on.

[Ronin]

Actually, if I am not mistaken, the strips you are talking about at Edwards are located on specially prepared areas of a dry lakebed.

I would imagine that they are cleared, flattened, and otherwise prepared much the same way as the Bonnieville Salt Flats are when they are used for racing. Bonnieville, by the way, is another dried lakebed.

That is a far cry from what I was referring to, as anyone with common sense could have figured out.

I was referring to a once-of landing and takeoff from an improvised strip, and I didn't then and don't now see how a terrorist organization would have the infrastructure pull that kind of an operation off in secret -- even if there were a site that matches that discription available for use.

As for your funny regarding my misspelling of desert, ha ha ha. Very clever.

[eno_]

Lots of dots connected without reputable sources quoted. Color me very skeptical.

I've been following this story, but I know of no reliable word the plane was actually found and is now safe and secure. The "hiding in the desert" stuff is pure speculation, but the plane is still out there.

[BallparkBoys]

I dont think they're saying that the plane is hiding someplace under a camo tarp. The 727-200 is a 70's plane and this one probably had 40,000 cycles on it by the time it was retired. These old planes are either cut up, put in the desert or shipped to third world countries. I dont think you'll find a whole lot of 777's or 737-800's at your local Sub-Saharan airline. I would think that these African countries fly a ton of 727's, DC-8's, 707's, even DC-3's - all the old ones. If they paint it in the colors of a local airline, there is the hiding place. What are we going to do, start looking at the serial numbers on the doorjam of each 727??? THAT's where its hiding - if in fact this story is correct. What's that saying about hiding things in plain view? If you want to know what they are looking for, go here: http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=N844AA&distinct_entry=true This is 6 pictures of this exact aircraft (N844AA) that have been taken in the last 2 years.

[SauronOfMordor]

If Al-Qaeda has control of the plane, and if they were going to use it as a bomb, they would probably head it for another large building, not another airliner.

Or a ship. A large cruise ship in the Med, say.

Or consider the effect upon hitting a large oil refinery or tanker port. Consider also bin-Ladin's connections to Saudis and how much Saudi would benefit from the utter destruction of some other country's oil-exporting ability

[rintense]

With hijackings now almost impossible, I can't believe AQ would waste a plane by flying into another plane. They have plans for this one- plans greater than taking out one British plane.

[meg70]

But we would be able to find this thing soon after it got up in the air right?

[SauronOfMordor]

cruising speed is 570 - 605 mph. 900 mph would tear the craft apart.

If plane A is going east at 450 mph, and B is going west at 450 mph, they are closing at 900 mph

[meg70]

I was talking mainly about hopping around 2-3 times to different African countries without being detected.

[Brian Allen]

<< .... closing speed of almost 900 miles [Per Hour] >>

Closing speed is the sum of both aircraft speeds.

A closing speed far in excess of eleven hundred miles per hour is possible.

And the chance a couple of Teheran-"trained" barbarians in pilot costumes hitting anything at all at that speed, let alone something as small as another aircraft in controlled airspace?

Between no chance and a dog's chance.

Islamofascism's American-resident and Gray-out Davis's California-driver's-licence-bearing third-world savages have a better chance of walking past Norman Mineta's Scandanavian-grandmother-grabbing rent-a-gropers at Boston/Logan and of commandeering a California-bound American or United aircraft than they have pulling off the wild stunt envisaged in this piece!

[JETDRVR]

HUH???
Yo Achmed , hold muh beer whilst I rams that ther Vurgin 747.
Aint no way in hell, thats possable. Not with Tcas

[eno_]

But we would be able to find this thing soon after it got up in the air right?

Only if anyone looking for it knew where to look, in which case they would know where it is before it gets off the ground.

If it is detected in the air, it would be because heightened security in first-world airspace finds a suspicious plane. It could fly around Africa for a while without anyone noticing anything unusual.