ATA in Iraq?
 

Has anyone heard of an ATA (American Trans Air) charter aircraft being shot down in or over Iraq? I'm getting bits and pieces but nothing solid.

Thank you.

No info to verify, if anything might be a different carrier. Nothing on media either.

Seems unlikely. Nothing in the media (as stated), or on the FAA or NTSB sites. Even in the current circumstances I would be surprised something like this could be kept secret even if 'they' wanted to.

Hey PT, ever been to Iraq ? They haven't even got Starbucks there yet - sure is the wild east.

Keeping this quiet is about as easy as well... stealing a B727 out of Angola, or keeping the blue on blue incidents of the Falklands under wraps for ever, (or at least from mainstream media).

We don't hear a quarter of the crap that goes on, believe me.

no starbucks? how unthinkable!!! watch the Cia News Network for ATA if it happened it'll turn up there...nope not yet too busy seems it's Bhopal day....:ouch:

ATA is in Iraq these days as a mil (CRAF, etc) charter. The aircraft are 75s and (at least in the recent past) the occ L10. However, I cannot believe that there would be any way to cover up a hull loss. Neither the crews nor the airframes are dedicicated to mid-east duty, and unless such an event happened VERY recently (last few hours or so), I tend to think it didn't happen at all. I've got some very close associations within the company they've heard nothing.

SASKATOON9999... I think the crews would agree that the normal livery is too obvious for comfort...

Dave

av8boy put it more succinctly than I, and while I am sure there are many secret umm... incidents going on in Iraq, the loss of a civil (albeit CRAF) airliner and crew wouldn't be hushed up.

One might even argue that such a disaster would be to the advantage of the administration, PR-spin wise.

av8Boy. Thank you for the verification that ATA and "other charter operators" are in Iraq.

For others responding: I asked "has anyone heard anything", not "has anyone NOT heard anything"...but thank you non-the-less for allowing me to read your unsolicited responses.

Sorry, rough day.

With respect captain if you ask a question on this forum it is inevitably going to invite responses. The fact they seem unsatisfactory to you cannot reasonably classify them as "unsolicited"

My sincere apologies for being gratuitously verbose in my response. Please allow to me to make amends by answering the original question thusly:

NO