Boeing 727 serial number forged?
 

From published reports:

...Beirut - The serial number of a Boeing 727 that crashed on December 25 in Benin killing 141 passengers may have been altered, Lebanese state prosecutor Adnan Adoum said on Thursday.

The change possibly was made to disguise the plane as one with approval to land in Lebanon, the destination of the doomed flight, Adoum said. The serial number pulled from the wreck was identical with another aircraft, he told reporters...

Photo of 3X-GDM
 

Here is a photo of what appears to be 3X-GDM. I have no idea when it was taken, but you can see it looks extremely different from 3X-GDO, the airplane that supposedly crashed on December 25, 2003.

Based on these photos, wouldn't it be easy to determine which airplane actually crashed?

http://727.assintel.com.br/acid/images/3x-gdm_01.jpg

Sorry link doesn't work

Do you have a www address/

Link works fine for me.
This is the website: http://727.assintel.com.br

All I get is an error message saying it can not be found.

Prolly because it is not a compete link for those of us not on your system.

Can anybody else help?

"727 Data Center"
 

The 727 Data Center site (http://727.assintel.com.br) is reachable only if on the correct internet routing, as I tried it sitting in Orlando and no luck. I switched to a server in Miami and successfully found it.

Anyhow, while I was on that site, I actually found more than one picture pertaining to 3X-GDM and copied them to a server where they can be found, if http://727.assintel.com.br does not have a route from your computer location. It seems the 727 Data Center is a news site? I cannot read the language of the captions so I am unsure. It is an interesting site; as far as I can figure, it is a picture repository of worldwide 727 incidents and accidents?

Here, I have located the pictures of 3X-GDM from the "727 Data Center" as well they had 2 pictures of N862AA both flying as AAL and when stripped of AAL livery, sitting in Mojave, perhaps:


http://vei.twu.net/pics/3x-gdm/3x-gdm-thm.jpg

(click the picture or click http://vei.twu.net/pics/3x-gdm)

Enjoy.

Gear down props forward

And if someone cares about the legal b.s.: I do not claim ownership of these pictures, just simply located them so interested persons may be able to see them if they cannot reach the original location. If there is something about copying these pictures, then I am unable to read it due different language informing so.

Prosecutor implies coverup in plane crash

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-break...3554-6002r.htm

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Lebanon's state prosecutor hinted of a possible coverup in the plane that crashed in the sea off the west African state of Benin Christmas Day.

The disaster left 130 dead, including 83 Lebanese nationals.

"All government departments concerned are coordinating among each other and cooperating with the judiciary," Adnan Addoum told Lebanon's Daily Star. "But it is strange how pieces of information are coming to us in bits and pieces."

Addoum warned "measures will be taken by the judiciary if something seems to be not right."

He also accused Guinea, where the plane is registered, of not cooperating with the Lebanese investigation.

Addoum said he asked the Lebanese Embassy in London for the whereabouts of Darwish Khazem, whose father is the owner of the plane.

Khazem was among the few who survived the crash. Flight-data recordings showed he asked the pilot to take off in spite of his complaint about exceeding the allowed weight limit.

The chairman of Lebanon's Public Works, Transport, Energy and Water Committee, Mohammed Qabbani, has said the reason for the crash was overload

French check Benin black boxes

14/01/2004 07:59 - (SA)

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...469017,00.html

Cotonou - The voice and data recorders from a Boeing 727 that crashed in the west African state of Benin on Christmas Day have been sent to France for examination, police sources said Tuesday.

A Boeing 727 operated by Union des Transports Africains (UTA), which is registered in Guinea, crashed into the sea on takeoff from Cotonou, the main city in Benin, killing 139 of the 161 people on board. Most of the passengers were Lebanese expatriates returning home for the holidays.
A police source in Cotonou told journalists that the black boxes were sent at the weekend to Paris for examination. France sent experts to its former colony following the crash, but Benin does not have the technology to decipher data on flight recorders.

Benin, with the assistance of Lebanon, has launched a full-scale investigation into the crash, the worst in the history of both Beninese and Lebanese civil aviation.

'Eight tons overweight'

Several unofficial sources suggest that the plane was unbalanced and carrying at least eight tons in excess of its capacity, Lebanese media have reported.

Preliminary investigations into the cause of the crash suggest it was due to pilot error.

Meanwhile, Lebanon has told the authorities in Guinea that it wants to question a Lebanese national, allegedly arrested in Conakry recently, in connection with the Christmas Day crash.

"We have received information indicating that Darwish al-Khazem was apprehended in Conakry. We have asked Interpol to inform Guinea that the Lebanese judiciary has decided to interrogate him in connection with the inquiry into the crash in Cotonou," Attorney General Adnane Addoum told the Lebanese press late Monday.

Al-Khazem was among 22 survivors of the crash. One of the bosses of UTA, he was repatriated to Beirut for treatment after the crash but only remained in hospital there briefly before heading to London for talks with Lloyds insurance underwriters, his father Ahmad, a former stake-holder in UTA, has said.

Accident report is now out on the French website.

The airplane was registered in Guinea with virtually no government oversight. The company gave virtually no operational oversight. Most documentation and history had to be dug up by the French. One passenger bought their ticket from a checked in pax. Many had not fastened their seat belt.
The flight crew was a bunch of Libyans. The aircraft was well overweight for the length of runway but should have been able to fly if the C of G was not way forward of limits making rotation extremely difficult and resulting in a collision with a localiser building beyond the runway.
Due to weight concerns, the copilot said to a company officer in the jumpseat before taxi, "...you will see when the aircraft will takeoff or we will crash into the sea".
The captain planned that after takeoff they would climb at three degrees maximum to gain airspeed and not turn after takeoff as per clearance(due to worries about stalling??).
We finally get to see what really happens in one of these African accidents. I wish the French had discussed a bit more about the planned takeoff procedure.

http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/2003/3x...x-o031225a.pdf In english this time.

Does anyone have links to other obscure crash reports in full detail. Perhaps in South America as well and in English.

This is absolutely unbelievable.
I need another stiff drink.

Unreal!
QB

Punkalouver,

A distressing read, that. Interesting how politically pro-active BEA sound in this report, too.

Just a thought for you, though: the "bunch of Libyans", several of whom are not around any longer, sound about the same as any "bunch", of any nationality, trying to make a living in apalling circumstances. You might consider empathising as opposed to what appears, in your post, to be disdain based on their nationality.

We also know, don't we, that very similar commercial pressures exist everywhere, even in our own more pristine world, the difference being that here you can't get away all that long with cutting corners, particularly when passengers are involved.

Flightcrew of Libyans then. I will keep my disdain to their flying techniques.

I flew for Trans Air Congo 4 months prior to and up to just after 9/11...

Company was owned by some Lebonese folks and Conteanu was a 2 or 3 times weekly event R/T to Point (of no return) Noire...

Every flight was an argument over how much "freight" was being loaded....

Any "bunch of (name a nationality) pilots" who have flown anywhere in West Africa can recognize this situation...

Unfortunate, but true...