Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By TonyL
#19986
Oh Hell RS is right - and there is more than one

AIRPLANE BOEING 727 IRAQI AIRWAYS Item # 2179244509
AIRPLANE BOEING 727 TAP AIRLINER Item # 2179244570
By Steve Morley
#19987
Could have crashed somewhere. Really, if a trrist attack was being planned the aircraft would have been used straight away, while it was working. Now it's been hanging around for a month and its forty years old or so. If it starts the pilot will need to have knowledge of taking off in one. Too many ifs.

I reckon it has gone down.
By david
#19988
could be an aviation equiv of the old ringing scam ...

have legit docs for one vehicle that's been destroyed

acquire same type elsewhere

convert records/vehicle to look like new acquisition

flog on open market

if no-one knows that the original a/c had been scrapped (hidden amongst the many littering African airfields) then who's to know?

Of course a tad more complicated than ringing a vauxhall vectra that's had a prang but the principal could still apply.

I doubt the terrrist link is much more than panic. If you're going to knick a plane for that sort of thing, why choose Africa?
By Chris Scholfield
#19991
Point is this thing is kitted out as a tanker if the pprune thread is to be believed. Thus if you got it to Algeria then with 100kgs of Semtex and full tanks you've got most of Europe in range. Don't forget the 727 was one of the fastest passenger jets so if it is in the wrong hands complacency isn't an option. Why Africa? Well if you haven't flown there you probably don't understand how the "Dark Continenet" works.