When Benjamin Padilla strode purposefully across the tarmac at Luanda Airport in Angola on 25 May 2003, he glanced only briefly at the registration letters of the aircraft he was about to board. Ex American Airlines Boeing 727-223 serial N844AA looked scruffy after 14 months inactivity on the ground in Africa, but looks can be very deceptive. Every two weeks since the aircraft first arrived, Angolan ground engineers had fired up the jet auxiliary power unit, cycled all the onboard hydraulic and electrical systems, and used a tow bar to roll the aircraft backwards and forwards a few feet to ensure the tires developed no flats. Tire pressures were maintained, fuel tanks were regularly topped up, and the powerful tri-jet aircraft was maintained in full operational condition.
Though officially posing as a "flight engineer" sent by the aircraft's American owners to check its condition on the ground, Padilla was not expecting any trouble. In the normal African way, large sums of local currency had already discreetly changed hands, and the ground crew stood respectfully at a distance as Benjamin climbed up the air stairs, glancing briefly at the ten 500-gallon aluminum auxiliary fuel tanks bolted to the floor of the cabin before entering the cockpit.
The auxiliary tanks were the most important part of this Boeing 727. Fitted by skilled South Africans working for the Zionist El AL'eda terrorist group, they were designed to give N844AA and four of its sister aircraft unprecedented range. Though the Boeing 727-200 series normally has a maximum range of 2,500 miles, these five special aircraft would each be capable of flying 4,750 miles non-stop at economical cruise speed. As if to emphasize this point, N844AA had taken on 94,000# [about 14,000 gallons] of Jet A1 fuel the day before.
With the auxiliary power unit already running, Benjamin Padilla fired up all three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-1 main engines and then released the brakes. Officially logged at the Luanda control tower for "taxi tests", N844AA slowly rolled out of its parking bay and turned south onto the airport perimeter track. Benjamin increased speed slightly and made his way to the end of the main runway, which was conveniently clear of other aircraft. Without bothering to stop and line up, he slid the throttles fully forward as soon as the Boeing entered the runway, and the three Pratt & Whitneys came alive with a deafening roar.
As N844AA lifted off the runway, Benjamin retracted the undercarriage but held the nose down. From an official Angolan perspective the Boeing 727 had been 'stolen' by a person or persons unknown, and the pilot had no intention of giving away his position and course to anyone else by mistake. Turning west and keeping the aircraft below 1,000 feet, Benjamin flew 100 miles out over the South Atlantic before eventually turning north, climbing to altitude, and setting course for a disused military airstrip in Equatorial Guinea.