N844AA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On May 25, 2003, a Boeing 727 with the registration number N844AA - formerly owned by American Airlines - was stolen from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola. A Miami-based company called Aerospace Sales & Leasing Co. was reported to be its last owner.
Most intelligence agencies believe the missing plane to be in the hands of terrorists or drug dealers.
Contents |
[edit] The 727
N844AA was formerly owned by American Airlines, and was one of two at Quatro de Fevereiro in the process of being converted for use by an Africa-based airline. The aircraft had been sitting idle in Angola for 14 months, and it owed more than $4 million in backdated airport fees.
Reports conflict as to whether it was to be used by TAAG Air Angola, or if it was in the process of being converted to a diesel tanker, with seating removed and attachment of aluminium fuel tanks to the floor.
[edit] The Robbery
There were reports that a male boarded the aircraft, but was not seen leaving it. When the aircraft started taxiing down the runway, the control tower tried to make contact, but there was no response. The aircraft was seen to be making abrupt changes in direction while on the taxiways, and even during the takeoff run.
Reportedly, the aircraft was later in the airspace of Seychelles where it asked for permission to land, but disappeared shortly thereafter. It has not been seen since.
[edit] Ben Charles Padilla
A 51-year-old mechanic from Florida named Ben Charles Padilla was aboard the aircraft during the theft, and is believed by U.S. authorities to have been at the controls of the aircraft during the theft.
Padilla's family have repeatedly stated that they thought he was kidnapped, and that he was in Angola only because the aircraft leasing company had sent him there to participate as an in-flight mechanic for the aircraft's impending flight to the company's headquarters.
There were unconfirmed reports of a struggle onboard during the theft, due to the fact that the aircraft made dangerous maneuvers while taxiing before and during takeoff.
Padilla has not been seen or heard from since.
[edit] In popular culture
This incident appears to be part of the inspiration and background for the 2004 W.E.B. Griffin novel By Order of the President, in which a Boeing 727 is stolen from the same airport in Luanda on 25 May 2005, similarly with one crew aboard and ultimately going missing.
