'Flying bomb' missing

2003-06-11 21:09

Johannesburg - A missing passenger jet that appears to have been converted into a fuel tanker has not entered South African airspace, officials here said on Wednesday.

South Africa was asked by US officials via Interpol to help trace the aircraft, said Mary Martins-Engelbrecht, spokesperson for the South African police.

There were, however, reports that the Boeing 727, missing since it took from an airport in Angola, may be in West Africa, said Trevor Abrahams, commissioner of South Africa's civil aviation authority.

Abrahams said that the plane is known to be an American registered plane and that there were no reports that it had picked up new fuel, suggesting that it had not travelled far.

Engelbrecht said she could not confirm the reports.

US officials in Washington said that the plane was probably being used for criminal purposes, and has not been linked to a terrorist plot.

Chris Yates, the Janes Aviation and Security editor, said in a phone interview from London that the plane was chartered from an Angolan company with a history of having planes vanish for gun running or other illegal activities.

Yates said it was "extremely worrisome" to have such an aircraft go missing, whether it was in the hands of terrorists or gun runners.

"It concerns me because this is by all accounts a tanker conversion and if one follows that through effectively, what you have is a flying bomb," said Yates.

The US Embassy in South Africa was working alongside other embassies in the region to gather information on the plane's possible whereabouts, said the embassy's spokesperson Judy Moon. - Sapa-AP

- SAPA