The Time a 727 Disappeared From Africa

In May of 2003, a 727 took off from Luanda, Angola and was never seen again.

It was part of an African business flying diesel fuel to diamond mines throughout the region, but was in the process of being repossessed(who woulda thought that African diamond miners wouldn't pay their debts?). A mechanic and a flight engineer boarded the airplane to conduct and engine run, but instead the jet took to the skies and vanished. No traces, other than the odd sighting report from random sources, have ever been found of it since.

There are lots of theories on what happened to it, ranging from being stolen and crashing in the Atlantic to being used in a terror plot.

This is a pretty interesting on the whole ordeal- the jet, the business, and the people. It's long, but definitely a good read.

Never heard about this. I'll give it a read and get back to you. Thanks!

a reply to: justwanttofly

There were a few reported sightings over the next couple years, then it just dropped off the radar so to speak.

I remember a thread about this incident, so I did a search and there is a lot of info to be found here. There have been at least four threads and there are others that refer to the plane.
I would suggest looking at some of them to see if there is more info for you. It is an interesting mystery.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: justwanttofly

There were a few reported sightings over the next couple years, then it just dropped off the radar so to speak.

Yep, just poofed. I think the running theory is that it's probably at the bottom of the Atlantic. I tend to agree, given it's trajectory I read about. Either that or it was chop-shopped so quickly & well that no one ever noticed.

a reply to: Nyiah

I'm leaning towards stripped and dumped. Either out in the desert or in the ocean. Either way it could be decades before it's found.

I've been digging around looking in to how crashes are more or less looted for parts in Africa quickly. Keeping that in mind, stripping it for parts seems like a likely theory as much as any crash theory. It well could be part of a dozen other planes right now.
We could also speculate forever on what became of the two men aboard. If it was taken to be used as a clandestine ghost plane, they're likely dead or well-paid off, lounging on an island somewhere for all we know.

I also stumbled on this. Considering the thread topic, I thought it would make an interesting addition:

originally posted by: justwanttofly
but was in the process of being repossessed(who woulda thought that African diamond miners wouldn't pay their debts?)..

Occams razor says repossessed ....
but by whom?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Soon to be repo'd airplane is stolen and flown to a remote area where it's stripped for all it's worth by the shady African lessor.

a reply to: justwanttofly

Aftermarket parts has become a huge industry in the last 20 years. They could make a huge amount of money doing that.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Post reading.. that's scary!

Wiki article

727 parts wouldn't be all that valuable by 2003 - worth something, but without certification (ie identification of the a/c they came from) much less so, and there's no shortage of them WITH certification....

The wiki article says they flew south-west from Luanda - which is nothing but South Atlantic Ocean......with a pilot not rated to fly hte aircraft, and a crew of 1 mechanic instead of the 2nd pilot AND a flight engineer usually required.....taking off is not so difficult - point it down the runway, hit the throttles, wait until it is going "fast" then gently pull the stick back..

Landing in 1 piece not so simple.....my occams razor would be a couple of opportunists thinking they might make a quick buck by repossession or stripping.....but not being skilled enough to navigate over the ocean and/or land.

a reply to: Aloysius the Gaul

If they intended to strip the aircraft for parts, landing or at least landing it intact wouldn't or needn't be a problem.

Fly aircraft over large desert, point it in general areas required, then it's a simple case of a couple of chutes, descend to a few 1000 feet altitude, dump the remaining fuel, reduce air speed to just above stall..around 150 mph, point nose down and bail out...

The jet would crash over the next few miles distance and no fuel means no large explosion..most of the salvageable parts are still intact having been cushioned from the worst of the impact by large sand dunes...maybe.

Either way, the point is, they could have taken it without having the skills to land it conventionally.

a reply to: Zaphod58

really ???????????

given the number of parts on an aircraft that are invividualy S/N ed how would you " fence " them when they are previously logged on a ` lost ` airframe ????

a reply to: justwanttofly

insurance scam ??? - put it in a shallow dive over deep water [ or dense jungle ] then bail out

get picked up by accoplice in fishing boat or bloke with spare donkies

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Major airlines in the US have been caught with parts without serial numbers or records. There were whistleblowers that reported they would get word of an upcoming FAA inspection and would move truck loads of parts to hangars off site, because they wouldn't pass an audit.

How much worse do you think it would be in an area as corrupt as Africa?

originally posted by: MysterX
a reply to: Aloysius the Gaul

If they intended to strip the aircraft for parts, landing or at least landing it intact wouldn't or needn't be a problem.

Fly aircraft over large desert, point it in general areas required, then it's a simple case of a couple of chutes, descend to a few 1000 feet altitude, dump the remaining fuel, reduce air speed to just above stall..around 150 mph, point nose down and bail out...

The jet would crash over the next few miles distance and no fuel means no large explosion..most of the salvageable parts are still intact having been cushioned from the worst of the impact by large sand dunes...maybe.

Either way, the point is, they could have taken it without having the skills to land it conventionally.

Certainly parts have been used off crashed aircraft - but that's a bit of a lottery and risks losing 100% of the potential value.

Plus there are no parachutes known to have been involved......