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Details add to the mystery of missing airplane in Africa

In a brazen act, two men climbed aboard an idle Boeing 727 jet in Angola last month and flew off into the African sky without a trace.

The disappearance touched off searches across the continent and, in the post-Sept. 11 era, prompted worries about why the plane was taken.

US investigators and civil aviation officials in Africa said the plane -- which had been converted into a fuel tanker -- most likely was taken for a criminal endeavor such as drug or weapons smuggling, but they have not ruled out the possibility it was stolen for use in a terrorist attack.

"There is no particular information suggesting that the disappearance of the aircraft is linked to terrorists or terrorism, but it's still something that obviously we would like to get to the bottom of," said a US State Department spokesman, Philip Reeker.

US officials speaking on condition of anonymity said a variety of investigative and intelligence-gathering methods were being used to search for the plane across Africa. They declined to provide details.

But experts said that even in the age of satellites and other high-tech search methods, just a new coat of paint and a stolen registration number would make tracking the plane nearly impossible.

"Let's assume [the pilot] did arrive in some place like Nigeria ... a couple of thousand dollars changed hands and the aircraft is put in a hangar. The chances it is seen before satellites get a chance are zip," Chris Yates, editor of Jane's Aviation and Security, said in a phone interview from London.

"It's happened before in African aviation," he said.

The plane, with tail number N844AA, left Luanda airport May 25. The transponder was turned off, so the plane's position could not be monitored by air traffic control, US officials said.

Keeping track of aircraft over Africa's vast and often desolate terrain is problematic at best anyway.

Richard Cornwell, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, said radar coverage of African skies is virtually nonexistent.

"Pilots talk about flying the gauntlet between South Africa and North Africa. There is no [air] control, even on commercial levels," he said.

After the Sept. 11 assault on the US, fears of airborne attacks remain high.

Last month US authorities said they had uncovered an al-Qaeda plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.

The US Homeland Security Department issued an advisory saying al-Qaeda had a "fixation" on using aircraft in attacks.

The fact that the missing 727 was converted into a fuel tanker has added to the worries that it could be used for an attack.
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