Aircraft that disappeared without a trace

The recent story of a Boeing flying from Malaysia shook everyone's imagination. How could a plane, an iron mass with 227 passengers on board, disappear without a trace? Until recently, search teams could not find any traces of the crash, no bodies, no black boxes - the fate of the plane was a real mystery. It was recently revealed that the missing Boeing 777 crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. However, planes disappeared before him - he is not the first and certainly not the last.

1. Boeing 727 stolen from the airport in Luanda, Angola

On May 25, 2003, a Boeing 727-223 was stolen from the Cuatro de Fevereiro airport. It belonged to the American airline Aerospace Sales & Leasing and was leased from Angolan Airlines at the time of its disappearance. The plane was malfunctioning, and two people had to work on it - Ben Charles Padilla, a certified flight engineer and aircraft mechanic with a private pilot's license, and his assistant, John Mikel Mutantu. None of them could steal the plane: the assistant could not lift it into the sky, and the law-abiding Padilla had only a private pilot's license. After they boarded the plane, he began to move erratically along the runway. The ship's crew did not contact the dispatchers and took off without turning on the transponders. Since then, no one has seen the plane or the people.

In theory, Padilla could be at the helm. It is believed that Angola did not pay the lease fees and that he was hired to return the plane to the United States. Another opinion is that both citizens were held on board against their will.

2. At the beginning of the Vietnam War, the plane with the American military disappears in the sky over the Pacific Ocean

On March 6, 1962, US Air Force Flight 739 was sent from California to Vietnam, carrying 96 passengers and 11 crew members. Refueling in Guam, the plane went to a military base in the Philippines, but never reached it. He disappeared somewhere in the western Pacific Ocean. Couldn't find any traces of the wreck or bodies. After communication with the plane was lost, from a tanker located nearby, information was received that an explosion had occurred in the sky.

Sabotage? Problem? Engine trouble? Nobody knows.

3. Popular musician disappeared on a plane over the English Channel

On December 15, 1944, Glenn Miller, director of one of the finest swing bands of all time, boarded a plane in England to take him to Paris. This never happened.

The American musician went to war in 1942, at the height of his popularity. At the age of 38, it was too late for him to become a soldier, but an army band played under his leadership.

The official version of his death is as follows. The plane flew over the English Channel in bad weather and crashed. However, this is not the only opinion. Someone thinks that the plane was shot down by enemy forces, and someone - that Glenn Miller still flew to Paris and was captured by a German detachment.

4. Amelia Earhart disappeared while trying to fly around the globe

The first female pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. Missing in action, flying over the Pacific Ocean, near Howland Island.

Earhart searched, but found no trace. It is believed that she was unable to land on Howland Island and ran out of fuel. There are even more crazy theories: she was allegedly a secret agent, flew on a mission to Japan, where she was discovered and sent to prison. The most pleasant version: Earhart returned home, changed her name and began to live a quiet, ordinary life.

There are witnesses (I wonder how they could have seen this?) Who claim to have seen her plane landing on the uninhabited island of Nikumaroro. In 1989, this version was tested, human bones, women's cosmetics, shoes and a jar of freckle cream were found on the island. Whom to believe?

5. A squadron of five planes disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle

On December 5, 1945, these aircraft carried out navigation exercises and disappeared while flying over the Bermuda Triangle. In total, the squadron consisted of 14 people.

Two hours after the start of the flight, the squadron commander reported that his compass had broken and he could not determine his location. The same thing happened with other planes. After another two hours, incomprehensible, confusing messages began to arrive. The last was a call from the squadron commander to abandon the planes as they are running out of fuel.

An hour later, a US Navy plane set off to find and rescue the squadron, but the planes and people disappeared. A nearby tanker said that it had seen an explosion 20 minutes before the search engines departed. The missing squadron was searched for by hundreds of ships and aircraft, they combed thousands of miles, but they never found anything.

6. Brazilian cargo plane carrying works of art worth $ 1 million

In 1979, a plane from the Brazilian airline Varig disappeared half an hour after taking off from Narita Airport in Tokyo. On board the plane were 153 drawings by the Brazilian-Japanese artist Manabu Mabe, estimated at $ 1.2 million. The plane, drawings and six crew members disappeared without a trace. Robbery or technical failure? Nobody knows.

7. The plane disappeared on the way from the atoll in the Pacific Ocean to Los Angeles

In 1964, a nine-passenger plane disappeared en route from Wake Island to Los Angeles. When he was 500 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the pilot reported engine problems. The search engines found an oil slick on the surface of the water, and some even claimed to have seen the plane's tail sink into the ocean, but no traces of the plane or passengers were ever found.