This Boeing 727 Went Missing In 2003 After Being Stolen Off The Tarmac, And To This Day, Nobody Knows What Happened To It Or The People On Board
Planes don’t just disappear in mid-air—especially not a massive Boeing 727. But one fateful day, this aircraft took off into the skies, never to be seen again. To this day, no one knows what really happened to it or to the people who were on board.
On May 25, 2003, two staff members were caught on camera sneaking onto a Boeing 727 airplane on the tarmac of the Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola. The defunct plane had just been stripped and refitted in order to return it to flight-ready status.
Ben Charles Padilla, a certified flight engineer and private pilot, and John Mikel Mutantu, an airplane mechanic, were both part of the refurbishment project.
They boarded the plane together and seemingly took off with it. However, neither of them was actually qualified to fly it.
Padilla only had a private pilot’s license, and Mutantu was not a pilot at all. Plus, a 727 usually requires three trained aircrew. The plane flew over the Atlantic Ocean toward the horizon and hasn’t been seen since.
According to press reports, the aircraft started taxiing with no communication or permission from air traffic control.
It entered a runway in an erratic manner with its lights off. The freakish disappearance of the 727 set off a frantic hunt by U.S. security agencies, sparking fear so soon after the 9/11 attacks.
The Boeing 727 was built in 1975 and had a registration number of N844AA. It was operated under American Airlines for nearly 25 years before it stopped being used for commercial flights.
It was sold to Aerospace Sales and Leasing and was supposed to be fixed up for a Nigerian airline, IRS Airlines.
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However, it ended up sitting there for over 14 months, racking up about $4 million in unpaid airport fees. The passenger seats in the plane had been removed.
It was refitted to carry diesel fuel. IRS Airlines planned to use it to supply fuel to diamond mines. But later, the deal fell through.
So, Aerospace Sales and Leasing decided to prepare the plane for flight. It was going to be sold to the highest bidder, most likely for parts.
Just a few days before the plane was scheduled to leave, Padilla and Mutantu boarded it and flew off into the unknown.
The Boeing 727 had over 14,000 gallons of fuel, so it could fly up to 1,500 miles without stopping. Its transponder was turned off, so it couldn’t be tracked.
Someone on the aircraft reportedly used the radio to ask permission to land on Seychelles Island. Permission was granted, but the plane never responded, and there was no record of a plane landing on the island or entering a country to refuel.
At first, officials at the FBI and CIA thought the aircraft could be used as a bomb. They launched a search for it immediately.
But as time passed with no sign of the plane or its two crew members, it became less likely that they had planned to commit a violent act.
Another theory about the missing plane involved an insurance scam. After it went missing, an insurance claim could be filed on it and paid out to Aerospace Sales and Leasing. The company had a history of forging financial statements.
But eventually, the FBI cleared the CEO of the company of committing an insurance fraud scheme. The only theory left was that the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. No evidence of this has been found, though. The FBI closed the case in 2005, leaving the mystery unsolved.
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