Around the world, car thieves often steal vehicles, hide their identities, or dismantle them to avoid detection by their owners. Despite their skills and precautions, many of these thieves eventually get caught by the police and are brought to justice, closing the case once and for all. However, one theft stands out as particularly mysterious and ingenious. Nearly twenty years ago, a bold group managed to steal a massive Boeing 727 from an airport, fly it to an unknown location, and then disappear without a trace. Even with extensive investigations by major security agencies like the FBI and the CIA, no one has been able to solve the mystery of this vanished plane.
The story begins at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport in Angola on the evening of May 25, 2003. Just before sunset, the airport’s air traffic controllers noticed something very unusual: a Boeing 727, with tail number N844AA and painted silver with red, white, and blue stripes, was quietly taxiing towards one of the runways. The plane’s lights were off, and there was no communication with the control tower, which is highly irregular. The aircraft took off and headed southwest over the Atlantic Ocean, carrying 14,000 gallons of fuel—enough to fly approximately 1,500 miles. After that, the plane disappeared without leaving any clues behind.
Tracing the plane’s history, it had been sold to a South African businessman named Keith Irwin in February 2002. He purchased it from an airline in Florida to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Angola. After using it briefly, Irwin defaulted on his payments, prompting the original airline to repossess the aircraft. The plane was in poor condition, so they hired an American mechanic, Ben Charles Padilla, who was a certified aircraft mechanic, flight engineer, and private pilot, along with his assistant, Mikel Mutantu, a mechanic from the Congo, to perform necessary maintenance to make it airworthy again. Since Padilla was not certified to fly that model, a licensed crew was scheduled to arrive on May 26 to retrieve the aircraft and fly it out of the country. But when they arrived, they discovered that the plane had already taken off and vanished, along with those who were onboard.
Due to the mysterious disappearance of the Angola Boeing 727, especially so soon after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. security agencies launched a massive effort to uncover its whereabouts and the fate of its crew, searching worldwide but to no avail. With no solid leads, the investigation spawned several theories. The first suspicion fell on Keith Irwin and Mayuri Joseph, the director of the Florida airline that had sold the plane. The men had arranged a $1 million sale with a $125,000 down payment, with the rest to be paid in installments. More than a year passed without Irwin fulfilling his financial obligations, leaving the plane grounded at the airport and accumulating over $4 million in fees. These financial pressures were seen as motives for both men to want the plane gone—Irwin to escape the debt and Joseph to recoup his losses through an insurance payout. Additionally, Joseph had a history of fraudulent activity, including financial document forgery and investor scams. To clear his name, Joseph contacted the FBI and voluntarily took a lie detector test, which he passed, leaving investigators with more questions than answers.
Another theory points to Ben Charles Padilla, the last person seen on the plane. Some speculate that he stole the aircraft for personal financial gain. Although Padilla was only a private pilot, friends claim he may have had some training on this type of aircraft and flew it to a remote airstrip on the Tanzanian border, where he allegedly dismantled and sold it for parts. After completing the job, he disappeared. However, his family vehemently denies this, suggesting that he may have been taken hostage by a militant group and forced to fly the plane for potential terrorist purposes.
Despite these varied theories, one question persists: Where did the plane go after disappearing from radar? Some speculate it was shot down by the Angolan Air Force over the Atlantic Ocean, while others believe it crashed shortly after takeoff. However, no wreckage has ever been found on land or at sea, and no bodies have been recovered. Over time, U.S. security agencies concluded the plane likely posed no terrorist threat and officially closed the case in 2005 without finding any conclusive answers.
Although there are no definitive answers about the disappearance of the Angola Boeing 727, examining the facts suggests some plausible scenarios. The timing of the plane’s disappearance, on the eve of its planned recovery, seems too coincidental, leading many to believe that Padilla and his assistant may have stolen it for financial gain or acted on Joseph’s orders. According to a pilot flying in the area at the time, he saw a flight heading north and landing near Kinshasa, Congo. With no evidence of a crash, it’s possible that Padilla successfully reached his destination, dismantled the aircraft, and sold it for parts, making it vanish completely.
