29:
262:
281:. Neither of the men were certified to fly a Boeing 727 and needed an additional crew member to fly the aircraft. Padilla is believed by U.S. authorities to have been at the controls. An airport employee reported seeing only one person on board the aircraft at the time; other airport officials stated that two men had boarded the aircraft before the incident.
300:
before disappearing. Before the incident, the aircraft was filled with 53,000 litres (14,000 US gal) of fuel, giving it a range of about 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi; 1,300 nmi). Neither the aircraft nor the two men have been seen since, and no debris from the aircraft has been
315:
in 2004 that her family suspected that he had been flying the aircraft and feared that he subsequently crashed somewhere in Africa or was being held against his will, a theory shared by
Aerospace Sales & Leasing president Maury Joseph, who had examined the plane two weeks before its
930:
340:
magazine in
September 2010 was unable to draw any conclusions on the fate of the aircraft, despite research and interviews with persons knowledgeable of details surrounding the disappearance.
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210:, Angola, prompting a worldwide search by law enforcement intelligence agencies in the United States. No trace of the aircraft has been found.
249:(FBI) described the aircraft as "...unpainted silver in color with a stripe of blue, white, and blue. The was formerly in the air fleet of a
238:
4 million in unpaid airport fees. It was one of two aircraft at the airport that were in the process of being converted for use by
Nigerian
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803:
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28:
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242:. There are reports that the airplane's registration may have been changed to 5N-RIR, possibly as a fake registration.
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tried to make contact, but there was no response. With no lights, the aircraft took off, heading southwest over the
1004:
891:
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311:
773:
421:
1191:
273:), it is believed that two men—Ben C. Padilla and John M. Mutantu—boarded the aircraft. Padilla was a pilot and
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349:
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played a part, believing that the plane's theft was either caused by a business feud or resulted from a scam.
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33:
N844AA, the aircraft involved in the theft, when still in service with
American Airlines in 1981
833:
742:
564:
467:
363:
250:
223:
863:
382:
317:
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253:, but all of the passenger seats have been removed. It is outfitted to carry diesel fuel."
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81:
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230:-based company called Aerospace Sales & Leasing. The aircraft had been grounded at
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disappearance. However, U.S. authorities suspected that Joseph's history of
323:
In July 2003, a possible sighting of the missing aircraft was reported in
261:
518:
883:
324:
285:
207:
77:
292:. It maneuvered erratically and entered a runway without clearance.
277:
from the United States, while
Mutantu was a hired mechanic from the
222:
airliner, serial number 20985, manufactured in 1975 and operated by
234:
in March 2002 and sat idle for fourteen months, accruing more than
260:
227:
912:
226:
for 25 years until 2000. Its last owner was reported to be a
269:
On 25 May 2003, shortly before sunset (likely to be 17:00
265:
The approximate range of the 727 on the day it disappeared
551:. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024
454:. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024
834:"Mystery Boeing briefly resurfaces after disappearance"
16:
Stolen aircraft incident at Quatro de
Fevereiro Airport
864:"Plane in terrorism scare turns up sporting a respray"
309:
Padilla's sister, Benita
Padilla-Kirkland, told the
184:
176:
168:
160:
152:
142:
134:
124:
119:
69:
58:
43:
38:
1177:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 727
613:
611:
569:: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
472:: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
327:, Guinea, but was conclusively dismissed by the
586:"FBI Seeking Information – Ben Charles Padilla"
924:
8:
1045:Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines Flight 4230
21:
156:Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, Luanda, Angola
1187:Aviation accidents and incidents in Angola
931:
917:
909:
774:"Questions arise over W. Africa jet crash"
27:
20:
680:"Plane disappears after mystery take-off"
379:, another instance of a 727 disappearance
65:; presumed theft, but whereabouts unknown
1182:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2003
403:
784:from the original on 13 September 2013
737:
735:
660:from the original on 18 September 2010
562:
465:
690:from the original on 21 February 2011
517:Cederholm, Justin (19 January 2002).
498:from the original on 24 February 2014
415:
413:
411:
409:
407:
7:
844:from the original on 1 December 2007
630:from the original on 9 November 2019
549:"Looking for N844AA - PPRuNe Forums"
368:Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
22:2003 Angola Boeing 727 disappearance
753:from the original on 10 August 2007
377:1990 Faucett Perú 727 disappearance
894:from the original on 29 March 2010
804:"Missing plane turns up in Guinea"
720:from the original on 27 April 2014
584:Mueller, Robert S. (25 May 2003).
529:from the original on 10 March 2014
334:An extensive article published in
14:
710:"Missing jet linked to terrorism"
941:Aviation accidents and incidents
650:"African hunt for stolen Boeing"
432:from the original on 11 May 2014
1115:Polish Air Force Mil Mi-8 crash
1105:Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown
772:Das, Saurabh (2 January 2004).
288:without communicating with the
247:Federal Bureau of Investigation
420:Wright, Tim (September 2010).
360:2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident
355:List of people who disappeared
1:
810:. 7 July 2003. Archived from
519:"N843AA and N844AA at Luanda"
138:Aerospace Sales & Leasing
1085:Tropical Airways Flight 1301
1035:Boeing 727-223 disappearance
428:. Air & Space Magazine.
393:Flying Tiger Line Flight 739
388:Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
218:The incident aircraft was a
965:Turkish Airlines Flight 634
337:Air & Space/Smithsonian
232:Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
204:Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
74:Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
1228:
1172:2000s missing person cases
312:South Florida Sun-Sentinel
1212:Unsolved crimes in Angola
1207:May 2003 events in Africa
1144:
995:Iran Ilyushin Il-76 crash
956:
838:The Sydney Morning Herald
747:The Sydney Morning Herald
618:Good, Meaghan Elizabeth.
488:"Aircraft N844AA Profile"
26:
1125:FedEx Express Flight 647
1075:Sudan Airways Flight 139
620:"Ben Charles Padilla Jr"
350:List of missing aircraft
1005:Air Algérie Flight 6289
975:Air Midwest Flight 5481
626:. The Charley Project.
422:"The 727 that Vanished"
294:Air traffic controllers
1095:Colgan Air Flight 9446
1055:QantasLink Flight 1737
624:www.charleyproject.org
364:Bombardier Dash 8-Q400
266:
202:N844AA, was stolen at
329:U.S. State Department
279:Republic of the Congo
264:
47:25 May 2003
1065:Brit Air Flight 5672
1015:Air China Flight 112
985:TANS Perú Flight 222
104:8.85833°S 13.23111°E
1153:► 2004
1147:2002 ◄
426:www.airspacemag.com
284:The aircraft began
100: /
23:
1150:
1025:Congo air disaster
884:"Counterterrorism"
749:. 15 August 2003.
452:"Aircraft Inquiry"
267:
245:The United States
194:On 25 May 2003, a
125:Aircraft type
109:-8.85833; 13.23111
1159:
1158:
370:and crashed into
224:American Airlines
192:
191:
1219:
1192:Missing aircraft
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730:
729:
727:
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716:. 23 June 2003.
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665:
656:. 19 June 2003.
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596:on 10 March 2006
592:. Archived from
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383:Varig Flight 967
366:was stolen from
318:accounting fraud
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1197:May 2003 crimes
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869:TheGuardian.com
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840:. 8 July 2003.
832:
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817:
815:
814:on 27 July 2012
802:
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743:"Into thin air"
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686:. 29 May 2003.
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275:flight engineer
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164:2 (Unconfirmed)
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872:. 7 July 2003.
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372:Ketron Island
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63:Disappearance
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898:16 September
896:. Retrieved
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878:
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858:
846:. Retrieved
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816:. Retrieved
812:the original
808:scotsman.com
807:
798:
786:. Retrieved
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755:. Retrieved
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722:. Retrieved
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692:. Retrieved
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662:. Retrieved
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632:. Retrieved
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598:. Retrieved
594:the original
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553:. Retrieved
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531:. Retrieved
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500:. Retrieved
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456:. Retrieved
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434:. Retrieved
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268:
244:
240:IRS Airlines
217:
193:
144:Registration
18:
848:15 November
757:15 November
107: /
1166:Categories
714:news24.com
684:abc.net.au
399:References
214:Background
200:registered
198:airliner,
169:Passengers
95:13°13′52″E
92:08°51′30″S
51:2003-05-25
778:USA Today
161:Occupants
84:, Angola
892:Archived
842:Archived
782:Archived
751:Archived
718:Archived
688:Archived
658:Archived
654:BBC News
628:Archived
565:cite web
527:Archived
496:Archived
468:cite web
436:10 March
430:Archived
344:See also
305:Theories
257:Incident
135:Operator
120:Aircraft
39:Incident
945: (
943:in 2003
888:qsl.net
818:15 July
788:15 July
724:15 July
694:15 July
634:15 July
600:15 July
590:fbi.gov
533:15 July
502:15 July
325:Conakry
301:found.
286:taxiing
185:Missing
59:Summary
49: (
1131:Dec 25
1121:Dec 18
1101:Nov 22
1091:Aug 26
1081:Aug 24
1061:Jun 22
1051:May 29
1041:May 26
1031:May 25
1011:Mar 15
991:Feb 19
664:19 May
555:5 July
458:5 July
208:Luanda
148:N844AA
82:Luanda
78:Luanda
1111:Dec 4
1071:Jul 8
1021:May 8
1001:Mar 6
981:Jan 9
971:Jan 8
961:Jan 8
228:Miami
947:2003
900:2010
850:2007
820:2013
790:2013
759:2007
726:2013
696:2013
666:2010
636:2013
602:2013
571:link
557:2024
535:2013
504:2013
474:link
460:2024
438:2014
236:US$
177:Crew
70:Site
44:Date
271:WAT
206:in
1168::
890:.
886:.
866:.
836:.
806:.
780:.
776:.
745:.
734:^
712:.
682:.
652:.
622:.
610:^
588:.
567:}}
563:{{
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521:.
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470:}}
466:{{
424:.
406:^
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668:.
638:.
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573:)
559:.
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476:)
462:.
440:.
188:2
180:2
172:0
53:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
