Disappearance of the Boeing 727 N844AA

Disappearance of the Boeing 727 N844AA
	N844AA at Chicago O'Hare Airport , 14 years before it disappeared
Accident summary
Accident type	Possibly. theft
place	Luanda Airport , Angola
date	May 25, 2003
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-223
operator	Aerospace Sales & Leasing
Mark	N844AA
Surname	none
Departure airport	Luanda Airport
	Lists of aviation accidents

On 25 May 2003. A Boeing 727-223 disappeared with the US aircraft marks N844AA without a trace from the airport to the Angolan capital Luanda . The plane was subsequently searched worldwide by the FBI and the CIA .

plane

The aircraft was manufactured by Boeing in 1975 with the serial number 20985 and delivered to American Airlines , which retired the machine in 2001. The last owner was Aerospace Sales & Leasing from Miami .

Aerospace Sales & Leasing leased the aircraft to TAAG Angola Airlines , who did not use the aircraft for about 14 months, but merely parked it at Luanda Airport, causing fees of more than 4 million US dollars . Therefore, the aircraft had been detained at the airport since early 2002. The plan was to convert the aircraft in Luanda and then use it at IRS Airlines . The rows of seats were replaced by ten tanks to transport diesel fuel .

According to the FBI's description, the machine was

“[...] unpainted silver in color with a stripe of blue, white, and red. The plane was formerly in the air fleet of a major airline, but all of the passenger seats have been removed. It is outfitted to carry diesel fuel. "

“[...] unpainted silver in color, with a stripe of blue, white and red. The aircraft was previously part of the fleet of a large airline, but all passenger seats have been removed. It is equipped to transport diesel fuel. "

- FBI

Disappear

On May 25, 2003, Ben Charles Padilla carried out maintenance work on the aircraft with another mechanic, which should end in a test run of the engines. At some point the Boeing 727 rolled to the runway without first registering with the responsible controller on the control tower in Luanda. He tried to establish contact with the machine, but it did not succeed. After take-off, the aircraft could not be tracked any further because the transponder that transmits the aircraft's position and altitude was not switched on. The machine took off in a south-westerly direction across the Atlantic and has not been seen since.

When asked how many people were on board, opinions differ; sometimes just one person, sometimes several people. It was not possible to conclusively clarify whether other people boarded the aircraft before taxiing for what was probably the last flight.

The role of Ben Charles Padilla is unclear in connection with the disappearance of the plane. Padilla, a trained aircraft mechanic, flight engineer and holder of a private pilot's license , was on board and possibly at the controls of the machine when it was stolen, according to US authorities. Since May 25, 2003, like the plane, it has disappeared.

Alleged sighting

In July 2003, the plane is said to have been seen in Conakry , Guinea . The US State Department saw no evidence of this, however, and assumes that the witnesses saw another aircraft. It is now believed that the aircraft in Conakry was another former American Airlines 727 with the registration number N862AA, which was registered with the registration number 3X-GDO in Guinea. She was then by the airline Union des Transports Africains de Guinée used and in an accident on December 25, 2003 Cotonou in Benin destroyed (see also Utage flight 141 ) .

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Tim Wright: The 727 that Vanished. In: Air & Space Smithsonian. September 2010, accessed April 9, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b When an airplane disappeared on N24.de
↑ Mystery of N844AA - Boeing 727 disappeared without a trace for ten years on www. aero.de
^ ^A ^b Christian Schmidt: The B 727 with huge oil tanks instead of seats. In: Tagesanzeiger.ch. September 1, 2014, accessed on September 22, 2014 : “Instead of seats, ten fuel tanks fill the cabin. Since the transfer to Angola - at the beginning of 2002 - the plane has been standing around for a while and has been used to supply fuel to diamond mines. The roads in civil war-torn Angola are too bad and too dangerous for tank trucks, so the B 727 takes over the task. […] In the early evening of May 25, 2003, Padilla was ready to carry out an engine test with the revision of the machine. He goes on board accompanied by a mechanic named Jean Mutantu. "
^ Robert S. Mueller: FBI Seeking Information - Ben Charles Padilla. Federal Bureau of Investigation , May 25, 2003, archived from the original March 10, 2006 ; accessed on April 27, 2014 (English).

[wright-sept2010-1] A ^b Tim Wright: The 727 that Vanished. In: Air & Space Smithsonian. September 2010, accessed April 9, 2014 .

[n24-1-2] When an airplane disappeared on N24.de

[3] Mystery of N844AA - Boeing 727 disappeared without a trace for ten years on www. aero.de

[tagesanzeiger2014-4] A ^b Christian Schmidt: The B 727 with huge oil tanks instead of seats. In: Tagesanzeiger.ch. September 1, 2014, accessed on September 22, 2014 : “Instead of seats, ten fuel tanks fill the cabin. Since the transfer to Angola - at the beginning of 2002 - the plane has been standing around for a while and has been used to supply fuel to diamond mines. The roads in civil war-torn Angola are too bad and too dangerous for tank trucks, so the B 727 takes over the task. […] In the early evening of May 25, 2003, Padilla was ready to carry out an engine test with the revision of the machine. He goes on board accompanied by a mechanic named Jean Mutantu. "

[5] Robert S. Mueller: FBI Seeking Information - Ben Charles Padilla. Federal Bureau of Investigation , May 25, 2003, archived from the original March 10, 2006 ; accessed on April 27, 2014 (English).