The Unsolved Case of Angola 727 (n844aa)

It is not usual for a plane to get disappeared or rather vanish in the sky, such incidents either lead to a deadly incident involving fatalities or with survivors walking away with minor injuries, But on 25th May 2003, A Boeing 727 with registration n844aa, vanished out of thin air from International Airport in Luanda, Angola leading to a worldwide search by the FBI, CIA, U.S Departments of state, homeland security and CENTCOM

The aircraft being 28 years old, was retired from American Airlines fleet, thus bearing the distinctive livery of bare metal with red, blue and white stripes. It was then currently owned by a company in Miami and was leased to TAAG Angola Airlines. As the plane sat idle at the airport for 14months, it collected a due of $4 million dollars, payable to the airport fees. 

Although, all passenger seats had been removed, the plane was supposed to carry (diesel ) fuel in support of an African diamond mining operation.

Who Was Flying ?

The Missing Aircraft Snapped at Chicago O' Hare Airport in 1989

According to the reports, the Boeing 727, was boarded by a 50 year American pilot/flight engineer Ben C. Padella and a hired flight mechanic from the Republic of Congo, John M. Mutantu. Although, both men were working on the TAAG aircraft, but neither of them were certified to fly a Boeing 727, Yet the N844AA taxied out on the runway, and took off !!

Moments Before Disappearance

At 5PM local time, on May 25th 2003, the Boeing 727 taxied out on the runway without communicating with the control tower. Despite the continuous efforts by the tower officers to contact the pilot in command, the aircraft manoeuvred erratically and lined up on the runway with no clearance and took off heading towards Southwest over the Atlantic Ocean.

The thing that’s astonishing is that the aircraft had been filled with 53000 litres of fuel prior to the unscheduled take off, giving it a range of 2,400 kilometres. 

Luanda Airport with Abandoned Planes 

Aftermath and Theories

With many theories out there, none have been proven to explain the disappearance of n844aa.

In July 2003, a possible sighting of the missing aircraft was reported in Conakry, Guinea, but it was conclusively dismissed by the United States Department of States.

With less than 2 years with 9/11, United States searched extensively for the aircraft in multiple countries like Sri Lanka, Nigeria, but failed to come to conclusion, due to the lack of evidence.

In 2004, Padilla’s sister, Betta Padilla-Kirkland, told the south Florida Sun - Sentinel newspaper, that her family suspected that Padilla was flying the aircraft against his will and subsequently crashed somewhere in Africa.

However, the United States Authority have suspected the planes owners deliberately made the aircrafts disappear to collect the insurance money, as the plane was parked idle at the airport for 14 months and was in a terrible state.

So after all these years, the questions remain unanswered to what happened to n844aa, Was it hijacked ? Did it Crash over the Atlantic Ocean ? 

Is it being used till date for purposes we don’t know ?

It'll remain a mystery like the MH370.

Reference 

Air&Space Magazine 2010, The 727 that Vanished, Viewed 28th April, 2020