In 2003, two individuals managed to steal a Boeing 727 from Luanda International Airport in Angola. They then took off in the aircraft, which led to a massive international search by various intelligence agencies. However, both the plane and the men who stole it disappeared without a trace.
Posted by Time-Training-9404@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 218 comments
The Boeing 727, once operated by American Airlines, was retired and left at Luanda airport after plans to convert it fell through. In 2003, two men—a pilot and a mechanic—illegally boarded the plane and took off with 14,000 gallons of fuel, enough to travel 1,500 miles. The plane and the men were never found.
Article providing the full story: https://historicflix.com/angolas-missing-boeing-727-the-largest-aircraft-in-history-to-disappear-without-a-trace/
Existing-Stranger632@reddit
If I’m a betting man they’re in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean somewhere about 20,000 feet below sea level
fenuxjde@reddit
A plane that was sitting for nearly two years, well out of maintenance and inspection, flown by a single, unqualified pilot?
No!
AlbinoAlex@reddit
They were working on fixing it up though. Sure that plane requires a crew of three and there were only potentially two people, neither of which had flying experience. But remember Sky King? Only experience was PS2 and he still pulled off a barrel roll.
AButtom@reddit
Though the 727 is a far more complex plane to fly, way less automation. It still has a flight engineer so flying it single pilot is far harder
superspeck@reddit
The guy whose charter flight pilot had a heart attack and he landed the plane at palm beach in FL also only had played GTA and he managed to pull the plane out of a fast dive without tearing the wings off and then to land it with just radioed advice.
eidetic@reddit
"Just radioed advice" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Without being talked down, it's unlikely he gets that thing safely on the ground.
And I don't think this aircraft would be missing if someone successfully talked them through landing. (I mean, I guess it's possible someone else in on it talked them through it, but yeah, seems highly unlikely.)
superspeck@reddit
Most airline pilots couldn’t guarantee they could land a caravan with nothing except radioed advice.
Hypnoti_q@reddit
Most airline pilots should be able to land a caravan safely
chrisb_ni@reddit
Even fixed wing?
mexicoke@reddit
An expert knows his/her work is never guaranteed.
carl-swagan@reddit
Flying around in circles and doing a barrel roll would be relatively easy for anyone who’s messed around with a flight simulator before.
Navigating and landing are an entirely different animal.
WigglingWeiner99@reddit
This implies that Russell accidentally crashed when he himself said, after the barrel roll didn't destroy the plane and ATC requested that he land, "I don't want to. I was kind of hoping that was gonna be it, you know?" His statements imply that that his "smoking hole" was more Germanwings 9525 and less incompetence.
US_and_A_is_wierd@reddit
I mean at least he wasn't having any PAX in there with him.
carl-swagan@reddit
What I’m saying is that he didn’t demonstrate that an average person can safely or competently fly an airplane. The fact that he managed to do a barrel roll without hitting the ground is not as impressive as the people who glorify his suicide think it is.
God_Damnit_Nappa@reddit
It is really freaking weird that people here glorify that idiot's suicide. It's fortunate he crashed into a very sparsely populated island, but even then he still could've gotten someone on the ground killed.
zuluhotel@reddit
The pilot was a flight engineer, and a private pilot. So navigation likely wasn't a problem.
momayham@reddit
Not too much? He ran out of fuel.
Redfish680@reddit
Penny. Super hottie!!
fenuxjde@reddit
Yeah I mean I'm definitely not saying it's impossible, but in all likelihood, that plane is very much at the bottom of an ocean.
thealbertaguy@reddit
Unqualified and unskilled are different...
fenuxjde@reddit
Very true, but I think the "it normally requires a crew of three" negates some of that argument. And the plane was in crap shape.
Upper_Rent_176@reddit
Wouldn't one of those three be the flight engineer and you probably don't need to do calculations and manage fuel to optimise it or stuff if you're just stealing the plane?
PferdBerfl@reddit
But you’d have to know how to start the APU, start the engines, put the generators on-line, use enough flaps for takeoff, etc. It was a beautiful airplane to fly, but not at all initiative. One would have to have fairly solid system knowledge to do it.
Upper_Rent_176@reddit
My point was that "it's a 3 man crew" isn't a thing stopping 2 guys
PferdBerfl@reddit
My point was that an FE does more than calculate performance and manage fuel. Can it be flown with one person? Sure. I’m just saying that they’d have to really know what they were doing. Which they may have.
uburoy@reddit
My flight instructor was chief of training for TWA, which flew the 727. The nickname for that plane was apparently “the Pig”. From all the stories he told me about what it was like to fly that thing, it would literally be a miracle if two pilots got anywhere with the damn thing. It really sounded like a three pilot ship.
Now, if you were planning to steal one, and you asked experienced pilots how to fly it with two pilots, I’m sure it could be done. But not without real risk.
No-Milk-874@reddit
Flight engineer planes didn't really need a flight engineer to just fly. Even the old Electra/Orion was basically APU on, all switches forward, big green button for each engine start (rotary switch), oil cooler flaps open 60%, and off you go. All doable from the captains seat, if a bit awkward.
All of the engine gages and annunciator lights were optional if you didn't care about breaking things.
thealbertaguy@reddit
To what standard?
fenuxjde@reddit
The airline who said it was no longer airworthy, the leasing company who said it needed heavy refurbishing, or the various government agencies that said it was unworthy to fly.
But you're right. Maybe one unqualified pilot managed to fly a big, broken down airplane somewhere secretly and land it, and... do what with it? Sell it? Scrap it? Use it?
It was never fueled or crossed any airspace after a couple hours after takeoff.
BugMan717@reddit
Read the article, it was refurbished and was days away from being flown out to be sold or scrapped. So it was definitely airworthy.
thealbertaguy@reddit
Those are not related to actual flight abilities. Ex - non- working non-smoking signs can ground some aircrafts.
Spin737@reddit
Yep. Not legal and not flyable are to very different things.
BolivianRedditor@reddit
You haven't seen narcos nor read about El señor de los cielos...
Fine_Loquat6580@reddit
“The large aircraft had been stripped and refitted and was now just days away from being moved and sold off to the highest bidder.”
“One of the individuals was an American pilot and flight engineer, while the other was an airplane mechanic.”
Subtotal9_guy@reddit
Insurance scam, maybe they thought they could do a DB Cooper out the rear stairs.
Pizza_Middle@reddit
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they make some kind of update that prevented the rear stairs from opening in flight after the DB Cooper thing?
Expo737@reddit
Yes it was/is called the Cooper Vane
AFakeName@reddit
Imagine having an airplane part named after you and not being able to tell anyone.
Shawnj2@reddit
DB cooper most likely smashed into the ground at terminal velocity and died lol they wrote down all of the bills they gave him and none of them were found except for some near a river where he jumped. If he had spent any of the money it would have ended up in circulation and found eventually but none of it was.
CptDrips@reddit
I've always thought that some of the more successful crimes get covered up in order to deter copycats.
Shawnj2@reddit
I mean the better scenario for the FBI would be if they had actually found DB Cooper when they searched for him the next day lol.
CptDrips@reddit
I was thinking the bills made it back into circulation, just without them ever catching him.
theguineapigssong@reddit
If he took the money overseas it's probably still in circulation there.
Funwithfun14@reddit
Tellers near the hijacking likely looked for a month or so..... elsewhere in the US tellers looked for a week. If the money was spent, we would have never known.
Shawnj2@reddit
Sure but the mint would likely keep checking the bills any time they got money back
Funwithfun14@reddit
The Fed gets the bills back but they weren't checked.
Pallets_Of_Cash@reddit
The more interesting mystery is how has he remained an unknown person after all these years. He wasn't some vagabond living off the radar. Maybe his family knew he did it and took measures to create a cover for his death.
zigthis@reddit
There is actually a new DB Cooper suspect named Milton Vordahl who was discovered after the tie left behind by Cooper was analyzed. Some unique metal alloy particles were found in the tie and traced to a company where Vordahl had related patents and also knowledge on the inner workings of a 727. He was laid off in 1971 and his boss was named Don Cooper. His photo closely resembles the Cooper sketches. https://norjak.org/vordahl/
Ruin369@reddit
Wow, that page is incredible interesting.
zigthis@reddit
The best part is how they found out - he was checking all these boxes as Cooper BEFORE they ever saw what he looked like. Apparently at CooperCon (yes there is a CooperCon) last year there were gasps throughout the room when Vordahl's photo was put up for the first time.
zigthis@reddit
There's a theory that Cooper himself survived but lost his money bag in the drop. The money bag he was given was a bank bag and not a knapsack as he had specified in the demand, and he spent some time rigging up the bag with ropes from one of the extra parachutes to attach it to himself before jumping. Apparently this is a popular hunch among the FBI investigators who worked the case.
reddittallintallin@reddit
Unless he or others used them in other countries that accept dollars.
Shawnj2@reddit
So he lands in the middle of nowhere Oregon or Washington state and managed to get to Mexico or South America without spending any of the ransom money anywhere?
T-Kontoret@reddit
At least one of them would have made it back to USA by now.
reddittallintallin@reddit
Could be or couldn't. 50 % of printed money is abroad, corrupt officials or cartels or mafias are known to stash money for years, citizens in 3rd world could have saving in dollars and also stashed. If they enter the us they need to be processed from someone that detect the numbers or taken out because degradation.
Ransom was only 10k bills of 20$
peakbuttystuff@reddit
Nobody knows. That's the fun part.
AFakeName@reddit
I also have read the wikipedia page.
JuanMurphy@reddit
They can still open in flight.
Source: tested jumping out of that airframe.
Expo737@reddit
Cool, I think it was more of a deterrent than an actual practical solution, particularly so given that this was in the days before the internet when there stood a chance of copycats.
uburoy@reddit
So you pulled a “Juan Murphy?”
Lonetrek@reddit
Was cool to see it fairly up close at the Boeing museum in Seattle. I was surprised they didn't have a placard or anything else to call it out. I think it's a novel tidbit of info for even the casual observer.
sizziano@reddit
Yes but it wouldn't really be hard to remove especially for a mechanic.
FiddleTheFigures@reddit
God I hope he’s reading thing somewhere, sippin on a G&T.
Existing-Stranger632@reddit
It’s very possible. But you’d think that the aircraft has been recovered by now unless they ditched it at a high enough altitude that they could make it to land safely and the plane would hit the water.
really_random_user@reddit
But then there would be debris floating
Existing-Stranger632@reddit
That’s true but I also think back to MH370 where it took years for debris to show up anywhere. It’s possible debris has washed ashore somewhere and people didn’t know what it was/where it came from.
interstellartopmovie@reddit
No debris was found. They found something that they think it belong to mh370, but they’re not sure 100%
Hugo_5t1gl1tz@reddit
They’ve found debris that has been confirmed to be from MH370
990403@reddit
Prove it.
the1stAviator@reddit
Serial numbers on the parts apparently
FlightSimmerUK@reddit
They weren’t serial numbers, they were part numbers.
adamdoesmusic@reddit
How many 777s are in the pacific?
FlightSimmerUK@reddit
With the serial number plate missing on the identifiable part found? One, apparently.
adamdoesmusic@reddit
Had it been towed outside the environment?
the1stAviator@reddit
OK clever dick, but notice l did say "apparently".
FlightSimmerUK@reddit
Wow, no need for the insult. Apparently, the word apparently means others aren’t allowed to add to the discussion. Will remember that going forwards.
the1stAviator@reddit
No. Apparently means 'it could be but not necessarily '.
FlightSimmerUK@reddit
And where’s the harm in someone adding information, as I did?
the1stAviator@reddit
None at all. I've had a bad morning. I just need to kick ass.
jtshinn@reddit
It’s pretty well solved but that’s really been unreported by the media. The first officer had simulated flying a 777 out over the Indian Ocean and depressurizing it. It’s all but confirmed that he did just that, kept a mask on himself for some reason, and let the plane run out of fuel.
mdp300@reddit
And this was a ratty, old plane, stolen from a relatively little known (to the rest of the qorld) airport in Afruca, with nobody on it except the pilots. It got basically no pressure, and no reaction other than "that's weird."
Like you said, if pieces washed up somewhere, nobody would have even noticed.
mduell@reddit
It was a bit more concern than that, given the proximity in time to 9/11.
OD_Emperor@reddit
Yeah but it's really hard to hide a 727.
bill75075@reddit
Evidently not that hard. Lol!
OD_Emperor@reddit
Well when it's in the ocean lol
ConsiderationFirm258@reddit
Apparently one of the world’s largest oil producers and an OPEC member is “little known”…
CounterAdmirable4218@reddit
Why is this being upvoted. Some assumptions there, I don't think we've ever seen any real evidence of MH370 debris, probably because there isn't any.
Existing-Stranger632@reddit
There definitely was debris recovered from MH370 it’s just that not much was recovered. Just a few pieces that could be tracked back to it but we really haven’t recovered much other than what’s in this article (keep in mind this is a 7 year old CNN article that hasn’t been updated since).
hardware1197@reddit
Speaking of CNN didn’t Don Lemon solve it by his “black hole” theory? https://youtu.be/ZpVd7k1Uw6A?si=9LpkJcQuXB5OnuX0
sizziano@reddit
Incorrect
teutonischerBrudi@reddit
There is some:
Indeed, on July 30 2015 a large piece of debris – a flaperon (moving part of a plane wing) – washed up on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean. It was later confirmed to belong to MH370.
In subsequent months, additional aircraft debris was found in the western Indian Ocean in Mauritius, Tanzania, Rodrigues, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa.
https://theconversation.com/mh370-disappearance-10-years-on-can-we-still-find-it-224954
BeGoneWithU@reddit
That's not true. It didn't take years..
gromm93@reddit
I have a better insurance scam.
Make the plane disappear into a private airport, and sell the parts.
And nondescript everyman shaves the mutton chops.
Subtotal9_guy@reddit
Definitely could head out to sea and turn back to Namibia. 727 is a robust enough plane you could definitely put it down somewhere off the beaten path.
StTimmerIV@reddit
They have since installed a 'cooper vane' to stop the rear stairs from opening in flight.
Subtotal9_guy@reddit
That was mentioned elsewhere. I hadn't heard about that. Maybe they hadn't either.
Jamgull@reddit
DB Cooper also probably didn’t survive his escape to be fair
caucafinousvehicle@reddit
Sea level is like 50ft on average lol
acEiseTernal@reddit
exactly what i was gonna say xd
DrVinylScratch@reddit
BET: IT will be found in the next 3 years by one of two groups: people looking for a shipwreck based on last known location OR some dude looking for jewelry that was lost at sea.
Calling it now
anonymousposter121@reddit
Nope. Aliens stealing our technology
Scrungyscrotum@reddit
Well, are you a betting man?
Asleep-Fudge3185@reddit
No, not from Angola w 15k miles of fuel onboard. It was likely delivered to someone with a lot of money. As for the men, who knows.
BigPurpleBlob@reddit
The guy on the left is Robin Williams ;-)
thatkindofparty@reddit
Angola was wild back in the day. Used to take the Houstonexpress back and forth for little bit. Good times.
MirSpaceStation@reddit
Was it Atlas that flew that? I remember they had the ExxonMobil charter about 7 years ago or so
thatkindofparty@reddit
Yep, Atlas Air but I think Sonangol owned the plane?
MirSpaceStation@reddit
Whenever I'd see it taxi away id often wondered what it was like there. Was there any evidence of the Russian installations left?
hey_hey_hey_nike@reddit
People forget the very active tertiary, quartiary and quintary market that existed for 727s in Africa in those days!
Buckeyeguy-77@reddit
Good for them and shame on the intelligence agencies that haven’t been able to figure it out. It’s obvious they didn’t crash and I’m sure all airports, airstrips, and every possible area they could land in were searched. I find it hard to believe they could have gotten such a head start, but my only thought is that after they landed they managed to hide the plane (a large task, I know) and then stripped it/chop shopped it (again a very large task, I know). They couldn’t just strip it and “sneak” it back into service, even with help (and I’m sure they had quite a bit of it), so hiding and/or chop shopping it and then disappearing seems the only explanation. A bit shocking considering this was 2003, but kudos!
dchap1@reddit
Did anyone check the bottom of the ocean?
TakePeaksWreckSheets@reddit
Should be easy to find down there!
KeyboardGunner@reddit
Not yet. But don't worry, I'm working on a carbon fiber submarine.
dietzenbach67@reddit
14,000 gallons is only around 2,000 pounds. Thats nothing on a 727, not even reserve fuel no where near enough for 1500 miles. 727 would burn north of 9000 pounds per hour.
The1payne@reddit
14,000 gallons is 93,800 lbs. not sure how you came up with 2k lbs.
Apprehensive-Head820@reddit
Anyone checked Iran?
dreamskirting@reddit
Definitely one was Brian Clough
KnifeNovice789@reddit
That's literally the premise of the book "By order of the President" by W.E.B Griffin. Except it was stolen by a group of Somalian terrorists to crash into the Liberty Bell
maracle6@reddit
The Liberty Bell? That sounds very difficult...it's like 5 feet high, inside a one story building surrounded by taller buildings in a major city.
KnifeNovice789@reddit
Well they successfully retook the airplane and killed all the bad guys so I guess they never had to worry about that 🤣
PastPanic6890@reddit
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I wanted to read the book.
KnifeNovice789@reddit
Read it and find out 😉
PastPanic6890@reddit
I'm good, too much buildup already.
docentmark@reddit
And it’s already broken so it seems a waste of effort.
SnooBananas37@reddit
Heat of the jet fuel causes it to partially melt and weld the crack back together.
thepasttenseofdraw@reddit
Oh, you have got to be kidding sir. First you think of an idea that has already been done. Then you target something that nobody could possibly worry about. Didn't you think this through? 9/11 was on the TV for eighteen years! Every magazine cover had... ...most successful terror attack of all time sir!
bizzyunderscore@reddit
(plane comes tearing in; headed straight for the Liberty Bell) (last moment before impact, time seems to stand still, but you know hell is about to break loose) DING
MandolinMagi@reddit
Also the US Mint is just down the street, that sounds like a much better target.
Redfish680@reddit
You think that kind of security is a coincidence?! Lol
purpleushi@reddit
This just made me have a vivid memory of being in elementary school in the Philly suburbs when 9/11 happened, and we were all convinced that the liberty bell was the next target and we were all going to die. 9-year-old logic isn’t very strong.
ncoremeister@reddit
I just learned about the liberty Bell because of this How I Met Your Mother Episode. I doubt Somali Terrorist have it on their list
r1zz000@reddit
So this is not literally the premise of that book then
JohnTitorsdaughter@reddit
Like a group of Somalian terrorists would even know what the liberty bell is let alone consider it a worthwhile target
RealisticRobbie@reddit
It was the premise to launch a series for him based in present day.
dsbtc@reddit
"Now what will they put on their 50 cent coins? Muahahaha!"
Arcal@reddit
I mean, its already broken...
Random-Cpl@reddit
Hahah that’s the stupidest plot ever. “Oh no, not our broken bell!!”
WorkingInAColdMind@reddit
The Liberty Bell? Seriously? What a dumb plot. What’s the point? I’ll bet most Somalians (or most non-Americans) haven’t even heard of the Liberty Bell. I don’t even know if you’re joking and now I’m mad about that plot idea.
USA_A-OK@reddit
Oh no, not the bell!
Dry-Marketing-6798@reddit
I am the Captain now
Zealousideal_Cod6044@reddit
The only way to make a 150,000+ pound aircraft disappear is to sink it. A crash leaves a mark, hiding it just delays the inevitable. Also, I laughed at the article's assertion that the aircraft carried "... over 14,000 gallons of fuel, enough to travel 1500 miles without stopping." The 727-100 (pictured?) carried 7600+ US gallons, giving it a range of almost 2600 miles.
Poinston@reddit
My guess is that its still flying to this day for random african local airline or transporting diamonds.
uburoy@reddit
“Submitted for your approval…”, ah, The Twilight Zone by Rod Serling.
Wasn’t there an episode where a plane gets caught in impossible turbulence, and they time travel?
TheGoldenJ@reddit
Idk but there’s a book about a time/space traveling 737 (iirc) that’s funded by infinite cheese. Some of the details are a bit fuzzy to me as I read it on a wild trip.
Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers by Harry Harrison
uburoy@reddit
Wow, now THAT is a blast from the past. IIRC Harry Harrison wrote "The Stainless Steel Rat" and that was college reading. He was quite sarcastic.
0xKaishakunin@reddit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_of_Flight_33
Much better fitting would be this episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arrival_(The_Twilight_Zone)
uburoy@reddit
Wow, never knew the second one. Shudder! He was such a master story teller, and didn’t need gore, profanity or cgi to get right into your head.
irascible_Clown@reddit
Man, the gods must be crazy
Elios000@reddit
or chopped for parts in central Africa
DrVinylScratch@reddit
Or slammed into a mountain in a jungle or desert where we barely visit.
specialsymbol@reddit
Such places don't exist anymore. It's either sunk or way more likely scrapped for parts.
ReputationNo8109@reddit
China stole it to copy it. Or it’s been in service in Russia ever since without maintenance, like the rest of the fleet.
Corsider@reddit
Stop spreading disinformation lol, fleet in Russia is being maintained like it should be. There were some problems at the beginning, but now the are many ways to import parts. It is nonsense to think that there planes are flying more than 2 years without any service
ReputationNo8109@reddit
These sources seem to think differently:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/16/russia-air-travel-danger-sanctions/
https://archive.md/R5AOZ
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-airlines-sanctions-aeroflot-s7-staff-shortage-1920612
https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2023/apr/russias-commercial-aviation-stifled-by-ukraine-sanctions.html
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-planes-aviation-industry-sanctions-1875135
https://www.rferl.org/amp/russia-airliners-sanctions-seized/32699688.html
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/russias-multi-billion-aircraft-plan-falls-prey-to-us-sanctions/amp/
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PlutolsAPlanet@reddit
They do preventive maintenance, but have a hard time doing corrective maintenance. Planes can go years without fails if it's preventive maintained. But if things goes wrong, like circuits goes bad, it's problematic to import new ones
BAN_MOTORCYCLES@reddit
probably being used by a cartel to transport guns and drugs to dictatorships across the globe
Spotted_Howl@reddit
I don't think you could keep a 727 running this long without lots of spare parts
AHrubik@reddit
The tires alone would be dead from use within 4-6 months without replacements.
Zealousideal_Cod6044@reddit
The more I think on what you said the more I laughed. Because it could be true and we're all just looking in the wrong place. Thanks, made my day.
the_tired_alligator@reddit
So I’m not saying you’re wrong about it (or it’s pieces) probably being at the bottom of the ocean, but there are aircraft that have been discovered out in the wilderness years after they went missing. Even in places out in the open you’d expect to easily be discovered, if they just don’t get a lot of foot traffic or people paying attention when they fly over it’s possibly for even a crash as big as an airliner to go unnoticed for a while.
Pallets_Of_Cash@reddit
During the search for Steve Fossett they found eight other crash sites, some for aircraft that had been missing for decades.
A high profile case that garners a serious search effort often finds old crash sites of less important people.
5cott@reddit
Then years later, when a hiker found his ID and cash it sounded like a hoax.
GayRacoon69@reddit
I remember seeing a video of a BF-109 being discovered in a forest near a Russian city long after WWII ended. It wasn't hidden or anything. It was just chilling in the woods
bizzyunderscore@reddit
yeah havent you seen a documentary named "LOST"
Zealousideal_Cod6044@reddit
I agree, though the state of surveillance would make it difficult to miss unless it came down mostly intact, especially after 21 years. I've been considering the 14,000 gals of fuel mentioned. Had they been able to add the tankage and have it work without completely screwing with the center of gravity and had the plane managed the trip without catastrophic failure, Brazil was in range. That makes me smile.
Herr_Quattro@reddit
Not a chance in hell, this was only 2 years after 9/11 and when this went missing it sent the US on an extensive manhunt to find this plane because of fears of it being used in a terror attack. Thats why it’s a noteworthy incident, specifically because it couldn’t be found after basically the entire U.S. intelligence network tried to find it.
747ER@reddit
The one in the picture, and in the incident, is a 727-200 :)
Zealousideal_Cod6044@reddit
Excellent, thank you, so add 3,000 pounds of fuel and another 2-3,000 miles of range.
__smd@reddit
Maybe someone shot it down, I mean someone shouted “Let’s roll”.
Intermediate18@reddit
Don't be a investigator please.
MrMeowPantz@reddit
So they just turned the transponder off and poof. Wild that you can do that from the plane. There isn’t, or I can’t think of a reason, for a pilot to turn off the transponder.
YouSuckItNow12@reddit
Isolate and electrical fault that could be causing a fire.
Lol think a bit harder.
They can control every system on the aircraft for troubleshooting reasons.
MrMeowPantz@reddit
I don’t know anything about aviation, so just trying to learn. No reason to be rude.
YouSuckItNow12@reddit
You think being challenged to think harder is rude?
robertgentel@reddit
I wasn’t the one you directed it at but it definitely comes across as smug and rude.
YouSuckItNow12@reddit
You would die if you worked on a construction site for a day
Aat117@reddit
Tbh it was in Angola where radar service isn't as widespread much easier to dissappear there than in say the US.
FrogFragger@reddit
Look at that guy in the photo, that plane is clearly in storage in Warehouse 13 somewhere....
DrVinylScratch@reddit
IDK the reference
jeaguilar@reddit
Warehouse 13 is “a massive, top-secret storage warehouse that holds every strange artifact, mysterious relic, out-of-this-world object and supernatural souvenir ever found by the U.S. government“
krizreddit@reddit
I think stealing planes is bad luck
Schlapstick77@reddit
Have they looked in Venezuela? 🤣
IWEARYOURCLOTHES@reddit
My first thought was....why is Bill Murray stealing planes?
TheAndyGeorge@reddit
For the yucks
DM_TO_TRADE_HIPBONES@reddit
gosh i still love that american livery, I know this post was about something more serious but geez
Entire_Insect1811@reddit
In my mind, this is the livery I have associated with AA. I was a kid during this time, but my father and I used to build model cars planes together.
KiloPapa@reddit
The 727 in that livery is peak plane. Of all time.
J-V1972@reddit
Good read…
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-727-that-vanished-2371187/
Intelligent-Wing-752@reddit
Lol how does this make any sense with all the satellite imaging and tracking systems/tech in the plane?
SignalRevenue@reddit
I have heard about similar cases, when planes were flown to countries under sanctions prohibiting purchase or lease of Boeing planes.
EmperorJake@reddit
I read about one where some Airbuses on a ferry flight all happened to make an emergency landing in Tehran, and now they fly for Iran Air
Met76@reddit
I think it was two A340s and they literally faked an emergency on both and they were like, oh well it's ours now
iknowfkneverything@reddit
What a load of shit
TeamSteelDick@reddit
I’m starting to think this doesn’t know anything except how to suck.
Abject_Film_4414@reddit
Are you saying that they converted it into cargo?
iknowfkneverything@reddit
Are you saying your mom is a lesbian?
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Cascadeflyer61@reddit
I flew the 727 for 1800 flight hours, you don’t need two pilots to fly it. A flight engineer would be the more critical position.
Xalpen@reddit
What's interesting about this case is that some time after it was reported that this exact plane was sighted at some african airport.
boogertee@reddit
No, there were two and that was the other one. It's still standing there at Mafikeng: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10388042
Xalpen@reddit
I think that reported sighthing was at Conakry, Guinea by canadian pilot.
boogertee@reddit
I'm not saying it's impossible but it's just more likely that he was mistaken and saw the surviving sister.
1stltwill@reddit
Have they searching the sea bed?
driesalkemade@reddit
Bill Murray?
Miserable-Lawyer-233@reddit
Everyone expected this plane to show up in a terror plot, but it never happened.
Always_working_hardd@reddit
I vaguely recall a story about this from when I was working in Angola. The word was that the plane had been repo'd.
Pallets_Of_Cash@reddit
It went back to Boeing and they sold it off as new stock.
CorkyCucuzz@reddit
Tony Soprano's special
No body, no crime
RocketLabBeatsSpaceX@reddit
Where’s MH 83?
Pale-Ad-8383@reddit
Totally stolen and serial swap.
wstsidhome@reddit
That’ll teach AA to leave the keys in the ignition or on top of the Sun visors! 😬
mershed_perderders@reddit
cue Unsolved Mysteries theme
Status-Telephone3921@reddit
🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎶🎵🎼🕵🏻♂️
MrMeowPantz@reddit
Planes have a transponder. Where did the airport lose the transponder signal?
_badwithcomputer@reddit
The 727 was favored by the CIA because you could open the rear air-stair in flight and do covert air drops, parachuting, or toss people out after an extrajudicial rendition/killing.
Admirable-Eagle-1128@reddit
dang
chinesiumjunk@reddit
Ahh this was an interesting read.