Mystery of Boeing jet that vanished after frantic take-off sparking fears of ‘flying bomb’ & chilling hostage theory

A BOEING 727 that had no clearance to fly mysteriously took off into the night – leaving behind no wreckage, no signal and no answers.

Just before sunset, the ageing jet lifted off from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola with an American engineer and a private pilot on board.

It flew into the sky without its external lights, no flight plan, and without responding to air traffic control.

Its transponder had been switched off, and within minutes, it disappeared from radar as it headed south-west over the Atlantic Ocean on May 25, 2003.

Neither the aircraft – registered N844AA – nor the two men on board, Ben Charles Padilla and John Mikel Mutantu, have ever been seen again.

More than 20 years later, the disappearance remains one of the aviation industry’s most baffling modern mysteries – fuelling theories ranging from organised crime and insurance fraud to terrorism and hostage coercion.

For the family of Ben, the mystery has always been more personal and sinister.

His brother, Joseph B. Padilla Sr, rejected the idea that Ben stole the aircraft. Instead, he believes the plane was hijacked.

He previously said: “I really believe my brother was taken prisoner and held against his will and possibly was killed.”

Vanishing into the night

The Boeing 727 had been built in 1975 and flew 25 years for American Airlines before being converted into a cargo plane.

By 2003, it was considered obsolete for passenger use but remained fully capable of flight.

After a failed sale, the aircraft was grounded in Angola.

It sat for more than a year, accruing millions of dollars in airport parking and service fees amid confusion over its ownership.

Reports later described a tangle of companies claiming interests in the jet, complicating efforts to recover debts.

Despite that limbo, aviation expert Julian Bray said the aircraft was clearly being kept in a condition fit to fly – adding the plane could not have taken off without careful preparation.

He told The Sun: “You wouldn’t just jump into an aircraft where the batteries weren’t charged up and the systems were, were ready to go.”

Under normal circumstances, airports prevent disputed aircraft from leaving by immobilising them, Bray explained.

This includes blocking or locking the nose wheel so they cannot taxi.

But that did not happen at Luanda – and it allowed it to taxi down the runway unchallenged and with no clearance to do so.

On the night of the disappearance, witnesses said the plane moved erratically as it made its way toward the runway, before lining up and taking off without authorisation.

One reason the aircraft may have escaped scrutiny is its role as a cargo plane.

Converted from use as a passenger lane, it had a large side-loading door – and regular activity around it would not have appeared unusual.

“If people were working on the aircraft, then you wouldn’t see anything out of the ordinary,” Bray explained.

And it was that anonymity has fuelled suspicions the aircraft may have been used for illicit cargo – such as drugs.

“Nobody really is going to look inside the aircraft because it’s of no interest to them. It’s just an object,” Bray said.

The plane was reportedly filled with around 14,000 gallons of fuel at the time of take-off – enough for roughly 1,500 miles of flight.

Bray said this suggests a deliberate plan rather than an impulsive escape.

“You won’t take off unless you’ve got a tank full of petrol,” he added.

By switching off its transponder and radio systems, the aircraft had erased itself from tracking networks.

Without a flight plan or handoff to air traffic control, it became invisible.

The jet headed south-west – a direction that leads over vast stretches of ocean, but also toward remote regions of Africa dotted with disused wartime airstrips.

“In that region, there are loads of old, World War Two airstrips,” Bray said.

“If it’s not going to take off again, then they wouldn’t be too worried about how it lands.”

Drugs, crime, or terror?

Speculation about why the aircraft vanished began almost as soon as it left the runway.

Some believe the aircraft was stolen for use in organised crime, potentially transporting high-value contraband such as drugs.

Others pointed to the tense post-9/11 climate as the disappearance occurred less than two years after the September 11 attacks, prompting fears the jet could be used as a weapon.

The missing jet quickly reached the attention of US military and intelligence officials, who triggered a frantic search for what they believed could have been a flying bomb.

Retired US Marine General Mastin Robeson, who was leading US military operations in the Horn of Africa at the time of the disappearance, said news of the missing Boeing “came up through the intelligence network.”

Robeson said the uncertainty surrounding the aircraft’s intent was serious enough that US Central Command weighed the option of deploying fighter jets to Djibouti, where American forces operate alongside the French military.

He added: “It was never [clear] whether it was stolen for insurance purposes…by the owners, or whether it was stolen with the intent to make it available to unsavory characters, or whether it was a deliberate concerted terrorist attempt. There was speculation of all three.”

No explosion or attack was ever reported.

Who was flying?

Ben, an American flight engineer and private pilot, and John, a mechanic believed to be from the Democratic Republic of Congo, had both been authorised to work on the aircraft.

But neither was certified to fly a Boeing 727, which normally requires a three-person crew.

Bray said that, while risky, flying the aircraft was still possible.

“If he’s got a pilot’s licence, he knows the principles of flying,” he explained, comparing it to driving a vehicle without the specific class endorsement.

With a pilot and a mechanic on board, Bray added, there was a “viable flying team.”

Chilling hostage theory

One of the most disturbing theories suggests the men were not acting voluntarily.

Supporters of the hostage theory believe someone may have been on board to ambush them, forcing the aircraft into the air under threat – possibly by targeting their families.

“This has happened in the past,” Bray said.

“There have been cases where they [criminals] go and kidnap the families and put the pressure on that way.”

He also raised the possibility of collusion, saying: “Was it collusion between the ruling powers and somebody else?

“That’s the easy way to do it, isn’t it?”

Ben’s family said he had spent weeks in Angola overseeing a mechanical overhaul of the aircraft and was preparing it for a repossession flight.

According to his brother, the jet had undergone a full check and was declared airworthy – contradicting early reports that it had been abandoned or unmaintained.

Joseph said his brother was not licensed to fly a Boeing 727 and was never meant to pilot the aircraft.

He was working as a flight engineer and mechanic and was responsible for hiring a qualified pilot and co-pilot for the planned departure.

He believed the aircraft was taken while his brother was running engine checks near the runway – suggesting someone may already have been on board.

“I feel that when my brother was checking the engines, someone was on the plane and hijacked him,” he wrote back in 2003.

Joseph also pointed to his brother’s views following 9/11, saying he had once told family members that if he were ever caught in a hijacking scenario, he would deliberately crash the aircraft rather than allow it to be used as a weapon.

The family say Ben remained in contact with them shortly before the jet disappearance.

He had promised to call after learning his mother had suffered a heart attack. But that call that never came.

For his brother, he was convinced something went wrong inside the aircraft before it ever left Angolan airspace.

What most likely happened

Despite investigations involving US authorities, including the FBI and CIA, no confirmed sightings or debris have ever emerged.

A reported sighting in West Africa weeks later was quickly dismissed.

But Bray believes the most likely explanation is simple, saying: “I think it landed somewhere.”

He believes the aircraft could have touched down on a remote airstrip and been stripped, hidden or abandoned.

The alternative, he said, is equally bleak.

“The plane just carried on till it ran out of fuel, then ditched,” he said.

Either way, the Boeing 727 that lifted silently into the Angolan sky remains missing with no wreckage, no answers, and no clear ending.