There she is ooops damn got away again
Mystery Boeing turns up ... briefly
Oregonian 07/07/03
author: The Mecury
A BOEING 727 plane, whose sudden disappearance in Angola in May unnerved US intelligence agencies, reappeared last week in the Guinean capital Conakry before vanishing once again, British newspaper The Guardian reported today.
Washington has been working with African governments in the past month in a frantic bid to hunt down the cargo plane, amid fears the aircraft could be used by terrorists in a repeat of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
The paper said the plane was spotted on June 28 by a Canadian pilot, Bob Strother, in Conakry, sporting a new coat of paint and a Guinean registration number.
But Strother told the paper that two letters of the plane's old tail number - N844AA - were still showing, proving the aircraft was the same Boeing that was being sought by US diplomats throughout Africa.
"There's absolutely no doubt it's the same aircraft, the old registration is clearly visible," he was quoted as saying.
"Whoever owns it must have some important friends to get it reregistered in two days: going by the book, the whole process usually takes a couple of months," he added.
"We only saw it that one time, now it's gone".
The plane, which has been converted into a fuel tanker, is owned by a member of West Africa's Lebanese business community and was being used to carry goods between Beirut and Conakry, according to Strother.
The 28-year-old jetliner was stolen from under the noses of the control tower at the airport in the Angolan capital Luanda on May 25 and until now had not been sighted since. It had been parked at the airport for 14 months.
Angolan state radio said shortly after its disappearance that it had been chartered by the Angolan airline Airangol but was grounded after being banned from overflying Angolan territory on account of a series of irregularities.
While US officials are concerned the plane could have been stolen by terrorists, the most likely scenario is that the aircraft was was stolen as part of a business dispute or financial scam, said a western diplomat in Sierra Leone, quoted by The Guardian.