Intrigue aside, how in the world could a 727 vanish? I’m assuming there are limited airports it could land at, i.e. not an FBO, home made dirt runway, etc. Even ‘corrupt’ countries must have some sort of record keeping for large jet traffic at airports that could support it landing there, right? I admit I’m not a pilot or aviation person but just registering my car is a pretty big deal… I can only assume changing the equivalent of a jet V.I.N. would take some serious finagling.
I read a WEB Griffin book based on this premise - for all I know it might have been based on this incident. In the book it was landed at some dirt airfield in a neighboring country and then repainted.
I’m sure there are some places in Africa that it could land without being remarked on or the right people could be paid to “forget” about some paperwork.
yes but those record keepers are vulnerable to being bribed, their salaries are very low by western standard and compared to the value of the 727 it’s peanuts.
So lets say it disappeared across the sahara (no air traffic control), changed course a few times, hopped between small airports whose record keepers could be bribed then ended up in Guinea repainted and with a different VIN. (thats one theory anyway… see here: Mystery Boeing briefly resurfaces after disappearance
Africa has plenty of dictators, and dictators can do what they want. You could easily pay something directly to a leader to land your plane on a military runway or one of Africa’s remote and poorly staffed show airports. When that leader says “this plane landing is a military secret, do not record it” it’s pretty likely that people will comply. Sketchy stuff like this happens all the time out there. Furthermore, there are tons of defunct plans hanging around that were purchased for national fleets in more optimistic times. Chances are people don’t really have a great handle on what planes should and should not be hanging around.
A crash is also a remote possibility. A plane crashed in Cameroon a few years ago and it took them three days to find it, and that’s with them looking!
The most likely theory is that the plane is being used to transport goods to Lebanon.
A quick google search indicates the stopping distance of a Boeing 727 (landing and roll-out) is about 6,000 feet. I don’t know the actual numbers, but I believe there are pilots here who have flown the B727. Anecdotally, I’ve seen footage of a 727 whose underside was covered in mud, indicating that it was operating from unimproved fields. If someone really wanted to steal a plane like that, there are many places where he could land.
But I’m inclined to agree with others, that planes can be made to disappear if money reaches the right hands.
I used to fly 727s. I’ve never operated one from a dirt field, but it isn’t out of the question for a decently flat & dry surface. The initial disappearance flights would be done without a cargo load, so the airplane would be real light; another helpful parameter.
I also spent some time with the unconventional side of the USAF in the 3rd world, though not Africa where **even sven **has lived. Stuff happening quietly with the connivance of a national government, or even just a local strongman running some action on the side is very, very plausible. As in the “there’s no need to consider other more complex possibilities” kind of plausible.
As to re-registering the airplane, why? Just paint some, say, Gabonian, registration number on it, then stay out of Gabon. Everybody else will take the paint at face value, and no Gabonian “inspector” (ie bribe mongerer) will ever see the plane to start asking questions.
Assuming the dirt is dry/hardpacked enough to support the weight of the airplane (reasonable assumption if the airplane landed there) it’s just a matter of it being long enough for the plane to get up to speed and get off the ground. Maybe a little bumpier than pavement, although I’ve been on some paved runways that were surprisingly rough…
Didn’t we have a thread about this same 727 back when it first disappeared?
How much would a couple of engines cost? I’m assuming enough to place this jet between the last two examples, although I suppose it might have been in mint condition other than the missing passenger accomodations.
Well, 727s have three engines, but still. I read one time that a good rule of thumb is that 25% of the cost of any airplane is in the engine(s). That ad doesn’t seem to square with this.
That just doesn’t seem like something that could not get noticed by the hobbyist airliner-spotters. They log plane by when it was made, who has owned it, what tail numbers it’s had, etc.