An international mess

[-]

nsfvvvv@reddit

ZU is South Afrika.

And Elon is from South Afrika. Same hemisphere as Australia. Were the pilot is from.

Coincidence?

Just asking questions…

[-]

SmannyNoppins@reddit

No. But it's probably not the coincidence you think it is.

It is quite common to give drugs brand names. It helps talking about drugs without mentioning it while also being able to identify batches. (think competing dealer markets).
I've come across several 'car brand' pills back in my days.

So if at all, dealers decided to name it SpaceX for some fun/meaning but that doesn't mean it's in any way related to SpaceX.. I doubt Musk or anyone at SpaceX would be so dumb to slap their brand identity in massive drug shipment.

[-]

Astralnugget@reddit

Tbh I could totally see him doing it also to flex how he can just fly it straight up from the source

[-]

av8geek@reddit

Can't believe people aren't talking about this!

[-]

geeiamback@reddit

Same hemisphere than Brazil, too. 🤔

[-]

ThrownAwayGuineaPig@reddit

ZU is a south africa registered plane

[-]

IllegalStateExcept@reddit

Is it usually a thing to be flying a plane in South America when it was registered in South Africa? Is there even a safe route to fly between those two locations with an aircraft of this size?

[-]

Several_Leader_7140@reddit

Just, fly all the way around Europe, NA, down to SA

[-]

IllegalStateExcept@reddit

Forgive the question as I only fly gliders recreationally. But it's this a flight that a reasonable pilot could do?

[-]

Mushroom5940@reddit

Yes. Some have even made it from California to Hawaii with spare fuel tanks in a Cessna 172. Going around where you have airports all around is a much longer path but definitely doable.

[-]

yawara25@reddit

Can't believe there are people crazy enough to do that with a single engine.

[-]

Mushroom5940@reddit

Right? Can you imagine a crash when 70% of the cabin’s volume is fuel? If there is a fire, the water’s surface could combust, trapping the pilot in a choice of drowning or burning. they could start dumping fuel as soon as possible, but they still need to survive the crash and inflate a raft.

[-]

Astralnugget@reddit

Lindbergh be like

[-]

TheLizardKing89@reddit

Yes. You can get some pretty crazy ranges when you rip out the interior and just fill it with extra fuel tanks.

[-]

Several_Leader_7140@reddit

Yh, it’s how some delivery flights are done from Europe, all you need is tack the African bit on which’s is totally doable

[-]

likeusb1@reddit

Not a pilot. At most a simmer with fancy toys. But as far as I know and can tell, it's 100% possible the long way (Through Europe, Iceland, Greenland, and then through Canada and the US to down south)

Potentially, however, might be doable the more direct way, looks like a 1300NM-ish long flight from Cape Verde to Fernando De Noronha airport, and both of those are connected by shorter gaps to the mainland continents. The aircraft has a max range of 1200NM on eco cruise so that's a limiting factor. Completely unsure on this one but I think it might be possible to fit extra fuel tanks on these aircraft to make longer distance flying possible so that might not be too bad?

Alternatively, even more directly, 1100ish NM from Namibia to St Helena, then 800 to Ascension Island, then 1200 to Fernando De Noronha

Would love to have someone actually qualified confirm / deny this though

[-]

trphilli@reddit

Not sure black marketers would use an Ascension Island route. Landing on an RAF airbase and all.

[-]

likeusb1@reddit

That's fair, is civilian traffic allowed there? If they weren't black marketers yet then would it work?

[-]

trphilli@reddit

I don't know about General Aviation planes. Just know from reading about the Government / Contractor flights that refuel their enroute to Falklands, civilians pretty well contained in small waiting terminal. Sure GA would get similar treatment.

https://www.reddit.com/r/falklandislands/s/1pBGhpjDOD

[-]

Cedro_Flying@reddit

The tail number is South African, but apparently the documentation found in the plane, and fuselage registration etc was Zambian, implying the tale number was actually cloned. Source, in Portuguese

[-]

TheLizardKing89@reddit

Cloned meaning they just painted another plane’s tail number on it?

[-]

Astralnugget@reddit

We can do that?

[-]

unworry@reddit

The plane was manufactured in Sth Africa 2 years ago, and the pilot used to operate mines in central Africa until recently.

Join the dots

[-]

NErDysprosium@reddit

I was goinv to make a joke about Portugal being involved and the plot thickening before I remembered what language is spoken in Brazil

[-]

AreYouCereal32@reddit

Drug traffickers have been known to use any trick in the book. As much as I dislike Elon. I bet there is no connection other than an attempt to poorly conceal drugs with printing the spaceX logo off google and slapping it everywhere

[-]

Jazzlike_Climate4189@reddit

How did they get the logo if it’s “off Google” 🤔

[-]

49thDipper@reddit

With a printer

[-]

rabbidrascal@reddit

Probably correct, but let's not forget that Elon is a drug enthusiast.

[-]

RealPutin@reddit

Actually, this was Elon's personal drug supply. obviously

[-]

lopedopenope@reddit

I wonder how long 400 pounds of ketamine lasts the guy

[-]

bsurfn2day@reddit

About 8 days is my guess

[-]

spizzle_@reddit

Mitsubishi was a popular imprint for ecstasy back in the day.

[-]

Intensive__Purposes@reddit

Pokemon imprints were very popular, at least in Socal 15-20 years ago...

[-]

coltonkotecki1024@reddit

This has to be what it is. I remember seeing ecstasy with the Tesla Logo printed on it at music festivals. They must use spaceX now

[-]

itsbadforus@reddit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVp454wjqls&list=RDrVp454wjqls&start_radio=1

this song is literally about doing molly thats shaped as the tesla logo

[-]

My_Monkey_Sphincter@reddit

Adding that to my list of songs for Karaoke.

[-]

FMC_Speed@reddit

*zambian registered airplane

*took off from Colombia

crashed in Brazil

*it was carrying drugs labelled SpaceX

This was a wild read

[-]

obecalp23@reddit

The SpaceX label doesn’t really matter. A few years ago we had ecatsy pills with car manufacturers logos. Needless to say that they were not involved.

[-]

FMC_Speed@reddit

I remember seeing Mitsubishi ecstasy before, they were very reliable

[-]

rob189@reddit

With an Australian pilot.

The twists kept coming and didn’t stop.

[-]

unworry@reddit

The aussie pilot, living the high life

[-]

OneSchott@reddit

And that pilot was a kangaroo.

[-]

Fit_Armadillo_9928@reddit

Checks out, they're often far too overconfident at times

[-]

HiFiGuy197@reddit

I’m gonna wait for Blancolirio to unpack this.

[-]

jumpseat320@reddit

Analysis from California.

[-]

roadbikemadman@reddit

Designed by Apple in Cupertino

[-]

Gramerdim@reddit

from north it went south? both geography and literally?

[-]

071790@reddit

They forgot to add where the aircraft was manufactured. LOL. The plot can keep getting thicker 😁

[-]

ManufacturerLost7686@reddit

[-]

FAJStracker@reddit

South African reg.

[-]

747ER@reddit

South African registered aircraft, Zambia is ‘9J-‘.

[-]

Beard_Man@reddit

This is what I call globalism.

[-]

nutty_dawg@reddit

Those police officer uniforms are not from Brazil.

[-]

alecmuffett@reddit

This is the flag: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alagoas?wprov=sfla1

[-]

Crateapa@reddit

Now that is a melting pot.

[-]

unworry@reddit

Story gets even wilder when you consider he was trying to outrun intercepting military aircraft

It finally caught up with them! A few Sling 4’s have been conducting incredible illicit drug-runs across the South Atlantic for years now. Yesterday, Sunday, 14th September, at 13:30 local time… | Stanley S. B. | 28 comments

[-]

unworry@reddit

Armed Brazilian military aircraft were dispatched to run and if need be shoot the aircraft down. As they approached the aircraft and issued radio warnings plus firing warning shots the aircraft flew lower until it clipped some trees and broke apart coming down in a sugarcane field; Tim Clark was killed instantly.

[-]

drs43821@reddit

pot

I see what you did there

[-]

Crazy__Donkey@reddit

Thank god its not an intersetllar mess

[-]

ocular_smegma@reddit

o fuck I could never believe a single ufo claim I ever heard of was true cause like if extraterrestrials cd make it across the stars why on earth wd they come here of all places? never occurred to me they might just be buying cocaine

[-]

NorCalAthlete@reddit

Thank god it wasn’t an interstellar mass

[-]

CFloridacouple@reddit

we are not hosting an intergalactic kegger

[-]

Historical_Gur_3054@reddit

But there's going to be pierogi!

[-]

Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit

I ordered you pierogi!

[-]

odinsen251a@reddit

You can kill us both but you will not find the galaxy.

[-]

CoconutLetto@reddit

Have you tried searching Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and Travis Air Force Base in California?

[-]

DJJbird09@reddit

the galaxy is on Orion's Belt

[-]

njsullyalex@reddit

We later found out he was trying to make the Kessel Run in under 12 Parsecs

[-]

ribase@reddit

when i had inter with stella, it was a mess, hope that helps

[-]

tropicbrownthunder@reddit

so r/ItHadToBeBrazil

[-]

jay_in_the_pnw@reddit

where were the survivors buried?

[-]

Katana_DV20@reddit

The plane is a Sling 4. I didn't know about this type before.

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/544672

[-]

Jazzlike_Climate4189@reddit

The company that makes them has a very creative name.

[-]

elkab0ng@reddit

I think the CEO is Vincent Adultman.

[-]

LivermoreP1@reddit

400 pounds!?

Weird, the authorities only recovered 350…

[-]

afwaller@reddit

It was 181 lbs. There was an incorrect data entry marking the weight as kilograms, which was automatically converted in the evidence tracking system to pounds, yielding 400 lbs. This data entry error was discovered and has now been corrected. The correct amount is 181 lbs or 82 kgs. There were 164 packages at 500g each. Confusion between imperial and metric units remains a challenge in complex international law enforcement operations.

[-]

elkab0ng@reddit

And ladies and gentlemen, that’s how you crash a Martian lander.

[-]

aviation-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment has been removed for breaking the r/aviation rules.

This subreddit is open for civil, friendly discussion about our common interest, aviation. Excessively rude, mean, unfriendly, or hostile conduct is not permitted. Any form of racism or hate speech will not be tolerated.

If you believe this was a mistake, please message the moderators through modmail.

[-]

PhoBoStuDios@reddit

350?? Official reports from those on scene only recovered 275 for evidence!

[-]

akak___@reddit

275? The evidence locker clearly says 225.

[-]

Camanei@reddit

The full 150, as presented in court!

[-]

Atholthedestroyer@reddit

Good to know all 50 pounds will make it to disposal

[-]

dontevercallmeabully@reddit

What was it we needed to do in the first place?

[-]

shewel_item@reddit

..still decent

[-]

shewel_item@reddit

in chemical engineering that's still a pretty good yield!

[-]

mixxituk@reddit

I think that was an administrative on the polices part

There was a warehouse inspection and the weight was found to actually only be 250 lbs

[-]

BGBeeeeeeg@reddit

Elon's ketamine order?

[-]

gintrolai@reddit

Well, that landing didn't go as planned, huh?

[-]

malzob@reddit

How big is this grass!?

Looks like a model plane from a perspective basis

[-]

GreenSubstantial@reddit

That is sugarcane.

Looks like grass from far, but can grow taller than 3m (some species up to 6m, though these species are rarely used as crops in Brazil).

[-]

wasthatitthen@reddit

It’s probably sugar cane so, potentially, it’ll be quite tall, from the photo here

https://www.sei.org/features/crushing-burden-small-scale-sugar-cane-farmers-bear-the-costs-of-thailands-bioeconomy-drive/

[-]

Maleficent_Town_4384@reddit

South African registered.

[-]

Cultural_Thing1712@reddit

It was a fake registration. Plane and papers are Zambian

[-]

matjeg22@reddit

That's ZS

[-]

njreinten@reddit

ZU is the prefix for non-type certified aircraft in South Africa

[-]

Maleficent_Town_4384@reddit

And ZU for experimental in South Africa.

[-]

strandy76@reddit

Did Elon personally ask the mods to remove any reference to him from this thread or are they really that pathetic?

[-]

ManufacturerLost7686@reddit

Now we know how they can crank out so many rockets is so little time.

[-]

Th3Man0nTh3M00n@reddit

The matching plane and package is 🔥

[-]

eod56@reddit

Treetop flyer

[-]

misterspatial@reddit

I always knew 'Starbase' at Boca Chica is just a front for drugs. Great location too.

[-]

MechanicalTurkish@reddit

Plot twist: the drugs are actually from space

[-]

strandy76@reddit

Where's Elon gonna get his package from now?!

[-]

aviation-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment has been removed for breaking the r/aviation rules.

This subreddit is open for civil, friendly discussion about our common interest, aviation. Excessively rude, mean, unfriendly, or hostile conduct is not permitted. Any form of racism or hate speech will not be tolerated.

If you believe this was a mistake, please message the moderators through modmail.

[-]

Martylouie@reddit

I guess we can now know how Elon is funding his Starship project. 😊

[-]

aviation-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment has been removed for breaking the r/aviation rules.

This subreddit is open for civil, friendly discussion about our common interest, aviation. Excessively rude, mean, unfriendly, or hostile conduct is not permitted. Any form of racism or hate speech will not be tolerated.

If you believe this was a mistake, please message the moderators through modmail.

[-]

steppedinhairball@reddit

What is Elon going to do without his weekly supply?

[-]

aviation-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment has been removed for breaking the r/aviation rules.

This subreddit is open for civil, friendly discussion about our common interest, aviation. Excessively rude, mean, unfriendly, or hostile conduct is not permitted. Any form of racism or hate speech will not be tolerated.

If you believe this was a mistake, please message the moderators through modmail.

[-]

SchrodingersGoodBar@reddit

I guess ketamine therapy is expensive, even for the richest man in the world

[-]

aviation-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment has been removed for breaking the r/aviation rules.

This subreddit is open for civil, friendly discussion about our common interest, aviation. Excessively rude, mean, unfriendly, or hostile conduct is not permitted. Any form of racism or hate speech will not be tolerated.

If you believe this was a mistake, please message the moderators through modmail.

[-]

Giant_maniac@reddit

I love how they just put random logos on their bricks. I’ve seen Nike, I think adidas, and now spacex. I wonder why they bother with the stickers/decals

[-]

secretsq5@reddit

I always suspected it was a tracking method. In the world of mass surveillance, a person could send a message asking about the SpaceX shipment without raising red flags. SpaceX is easier to remember than shipment #TGK18265 For the people on the ground handling the product.

[-]