Before Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared in 2014, the world had seen another missing plane in 2003 and has yet to find a solution.
On May 25, 2003, the Boeing 727-223, registration number N844AA, was stolen from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola.
The plane was once on the payroll of American Airlines but was suspended for more than a year due to ownership disputes and airport fees of about $4 million. Before the disappearance, there was information about the renovation of this aircraft from passenger to cargo.
On the evening of May 25, 2003, two men - American mechanical engineer Ben C. Padilla and Congo-based Mechanician John M. Mutantu - were said to have boarded the plane.
Both of them do not have enough qualifications to pilot a Boeing 727, which requires 3 crew members to be professionally trained to be able to fly.
However, the Boeing 727-223 continued to roll onto the runway without permission or contact the air traffic control station.
While the lights were turned off and the positioning signal device was turned off, the plane took off southwest, flew out into the Atlantic Ocean and then completely disappeared.
At takeoff, the N844AA was carrying more than 14,000 gallons (about 42.4 tons) of fuel, enough to fly about 2,400km. However, for the past 20 years, no piece of debris or trace of the plane or the two men has been found. US intelligence and investigation agencies, including the FBI and the CIA, opened an investigation but the case quickly fell into a deadlock.
There are many theories to explain this strange disappearance. Some people suspect that the plane was stolen to transport smuggled goods such as weapons or drugs. Others believe that this could be an insurance scam.
In the context of terrorist concerns after the September 11 attack, many people fear that the plane could be used as a weapon, but that has never happened.
Other assumptions also mention the government's cover-up or involvement with aliens.
However, according to Discovery, the simplest and most likely explanation is still: The plane crashed, could have crashed in the Atlantic or in some remote part of Africa, but no one discovered it due to weak tracking systems and overwhelming, remote terrain.
A few weeks after the incident, there were reports of seeing the plane in Guinea but the reports were quickly denied.
Up to now, more than 20 years have passed, the fate of the plane numbered N844AA is still one of the biggest mysteries in the aviation industry, behind only the disappearance of MH370.
