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Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter Since 1995

Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Since 1995

wayne albertson articles

How to steal an aircraft!

I guess if you are inclined to steal, you may as well go big! I have been quite amused by the YouTube video (linked below) which includes an abridged description of when a Boeing 727 was stolen from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola in 2003.

American Airlines registration N844AA served as a passenger aircraft for twenty-five years before being bought by Aerospace Sales & Leasing and then utilized for various cargo operations in Africa.

It was out of service for a about year and undergoing a refit as a tanker when two men boarded the aircraft, started the engines, taxied to a runway (ignoring calls from the control tower) and took off over the Atlantic Ocean with enough fuel to travel about 2,400 kilometres.

Neither the aircraft nor the suspected thieves have been seen since and no debris has ever been found. There have been many searches involving the FBI, CIA and more security agencies, the mystery remains unsolved. 

Reference:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Angola_727_disappearance

www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/the-727-that-vanished

Additional Info: 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missing_aircraft

tmb 550 N844AA video

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