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Mystery of the missing 727
WND ^
| 9-29-03
| N/A
Posted on 09/29/2003 7:47:53 PM PDT by JustPiper
Was it stolen for parts or to make a flying bomb?
How could a Boeing 727 just disappear without a trace?
You might think in this age of satellite surveillance and sophisticated air-traffic controls, it would be near impossible for a jetliner to be stolen, flown away and not seen again for more than four months.
Yet, that's just what has happened in a daring feat that has governments around the world fearing the jetliner may be in the hands of terrorists, just awaiting its final suicide mission.
The story began May 25, when two men climbed aboard an idle cargo jet in Angola and flew off into the African sky. The jet has not been seen since.
U.S. investigators and civil aviation officials in Africa have tried to downplay the terrorist threat, saying the plane was most likely stolen for a criminal endeavor such as drug or weapons smuggling. Some have speculated it may have been stolen for the value of its spare parts. Yet, no one can definitively rule out the terrorist threat.
State Department spokesmen have said there is no evidence linking the disappearance of the plane to terrorists, but they admit they would like to see the plane found so the threat can be ruled out.
U.S. officials also say everything that can be done to find the plane using modern technology is being done. But experts say even in the age of satellites and other high-tech search methods, a new coat of paint and a stolen registration number would make tracking the plane nearly impossible.
When the plane, with tail number N844AA, left Luanda airport May 25, the transponder was turned off, so the plane's position could not be monitored by air-traffic control.
Worse yet, the missing 727 cargo jet had been converted into a fuel tanker, making it highly desirable as a "flying bomb."
An American named Ben Padilla approached authorities a month before the plane disappeared, saying the owner wanted to take the plane out of Angola. Padilla was asked for $50,000 in fees accumulated during the year the plane sat in Angola. Padilla was one of the two men later seen boarding the plane just before it took off.
According to Padilla's family in Florida, he was hired to repossess the jet after Air Angola failed to make lease payments.
His sister, Benita Padilla-Kirkland, says she feared the plane had crashed or Padilla, 51, was being held against his will.
"I'm becoming highly concerned that we're not getting enough cooperation from the FBI and CIA," she told Fox News earlier this month. "I've spoken with someone at the CIA last week and expressed my concerns, and they continue to give us the answer they cannot give us any additional information."
Padilla-Kirkland said she is suspicious about repeated U.S. insistence that this is a criminal act.
"I've noticed that a lot of the European agencies are more concerned with this being a terrorist act," she said. "It seems to be that the European countries seem to be a little bit more concerned about this plane's disappearance than our government seems to be concerned."
TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 727; africawatch; airangola; airseclist; angola; b727; benpadilla; jihadinamerica; jihadnextdoor; missingplane; n844aa; terrorism; terrorwar
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Comment #21 Removed by Moderator
To: JustPiper
Thanks! This airplane still worries me.
A month or so ago when the media started talking about an attack on London - and it mentioned by airplane - this was the first thing I thought of. I sure hope we find it before thousands of people get killed.
22
posted on
09/29/2003 8:54:02 PM PDT
by
CyberAnt
(America - The Greatest Nation on the Face of the Earth)
To: The_Media_never_lie
Yup
I was listening to A/C calling in to SF Internation on HF (it a hobby - OK?) One heavy from China was a little slow to answer and a bit off course - he got a visit...and an escort.
Now maybe if they flew out of Cuba and made like a MIG.....well, who knows then?
23
posted on
09/29/2003 8:54:31 PM PDT
by
ASOC
(The honest truth is, the guy at the pointy end of the stick sets National policy - nobody else)
To: JustPiper
This story reminds me of the A-10 Warthog that disappeared/was stolen/got lost or whatever a few years ago. Supposedly it crashed in the mountains of Colorado. A HUGE big deal was made about how the crash site was located, parts were hauled out, etc. Call me paranoid, but I think there is a very good possibility that the thing is still out there-intact-and airworthy. I suppose somebody will have a lot of splainin' to do if it ever shows up again.
To: BearWash
I heard speculation that the most likely course for an attack on North America would involve an unfiled flight to South America from Africa, followed by a perfectly normal appearing transport-type flight plan to North America. That is the first thing I thought of when I heard the news of the vanishing 727 a few months ago. My father was a flight engineer during the DC-4 days (four-engine propeller airliner), and one of his routes was from South America to western Africa. I don't know the range of a 727, but I imagine a trip from Africa to South America is quite possible. The idea that terrorists could steal a jet in Africa and cross over to South America seems plausible (and frightening) to me.
25
posted on
09/29/2003 8:59:36 PM PDT
by
Wilhelm Tell
(Lurking since 1997!)
Comment #26 Removed by Moderator
Comment #27 Removed by Moderator
To: xrp
It's been converted into a fuel tanker. That might just give it a little extra range.
28
posted on
09/29/2003 10:10:57 PM PDT
by
MistrX
To: Moose4
"Not sure about the range, but I don't think it would be over 3,000 miles." However, since it's been converted to a tanker, how many thousands could you add to that?
29
posted on
09/29/2003 10:14:32 PM PDT
by
okie01
(www.ArmorforCongress.com...because Congress isn't for the morally halt and the mentally lame.)
To: xrp; All
Question? Where did it get the fuel to go anywhere in the first place? Is that much fuel easy to obtain?
To: JustPiper
Art Bell... call your office.
31
posted on
09/30/2003 12:10:31 AM PDT
by
Marie
(I smell... COFFEE! coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee! COFFEE!!)
To: All
32
posted on
09/30/2003 1:22:14 AM PDT
by
Cindy
To: Sweet_Sunflower29
I hope your wrong but I agree ;(
Hiya Sweet SF, how'you' been ?
33
posted on
09/30/2003 1:57:03 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: xrp
I've read here one rumor was it has been painted
34
posted on
09/30/2003 1:58:21 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: Sweet_Sunflower29
Bump! Do a search for missing 727 here, lordy ;)
35
posted on
09/30/2003 1:59:40 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: eabinga
I love picstures ;)
36
posted on
09/30/2003 2:03:17 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: seamole
I remember this.
37
posted on
09/30/2003 2:04:41 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: CyberAnt
You know Ant I still worry more about a small plane filled with chem/bio more than anything, even a suitcase nuke.
38
posted on
09/30/2003 2:06:48 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: Dr Zilman
That was 3 mos ago and they still aren't sure they haven't found it, man!
39
posted on
09/30/2003 2:09:32 AM PDT
by
JustPiper
(We deserve no less than closed border's after 911!!!)
To: okie01
It depends. Not all tankers install the plumbing to allow the fuel carried as cargo to flow into the airplane's own tanks. It's possible that the plane may have been converted to carry fuel, but that doesn't mean that the plane can use any of it.
}:-)4
40
posted on
09/30/2003 7:10:31 AM PDT
by
Moose4
(I'm Southern. We've been refighting the Civil War for 138 years, you think we'll forget 9/11?)
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