Reply #27: Flight N900SA

[DrDebug]

Flight track to Simon Bolivar, int.

Not the entire flight was tracked, however this is the flight from Clearwater to Simon Bolivar. (1)

N900SA left Clearwater International in St. Petersburg, Florida on 12:17 EDT. The time of arrival at Simón Bolívar International, Caracas, Venuzuela is unknown, however it was supposed to arrive at 07:13PM GMT, so I assume that it probably arrived at around 02:43PM EDT. (Verification of calculation is appreciated) (1)

The aircraft departed Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela on the afternoon of April 11, 2006. (2) The plane roused suspicions with Mexican officials almost immediately after takeoff according to General Carlos Gaytan. (3)

At around 6:30 according to Santiago Vasconcelos, assistant Mexican attorney general (3), it reportedly returned to the airport and refueled before resuming its flight to Toluca, Mexico. However, some time into the flight they made an emergency landing at the Ciudad del Carmen airport, claiming hydraulic problems with the landing gear. (2)

"Upon the airplane's landing, there appeared to be an effort to block the troops' work, where several airport officials began to make hand signals to indicate it would be dangerous for them to approach the airplane because it had an oil leak, and we all know that oil doesn't explode," Gaytan said at the news conference. (3)

"They also mentioned that it wasn't necessary to search the airplane, since it was only going to check its flight plan and then make a return flight. There was a lot of resistance, and it appeared that they were trying to block a search of the plane." (3)

The pilot reportedly left the area at this time and was never caught nor identified. (2)

A Falcon tried to bribe them

Another plane, a Falcon corporate jet (XB-IYK) with two Mexican pilots aboard, had also landed at the airport and aroused more suspicions by arranging to pay the exit fees for the DC-9, Santiago Vasconcelos said. (3)

The Mexican police approached the aircraft with drug-sniffing dogs The dogs identified the presence of drugs and the police entered the aircraft, arresting the co-pilot, Miguel Vicente Vázquez Guerra. (2)

According to the pilots' flight plans, they were heading to Toluca, in the state of Mexico, just outside Mexico City, but Santiago Vasconcelos said officials think the cocaine was destined for points farther north: "We feel that most of these drugs were heading to the United States, and another part would stay behind for internal consumption." (3)

There are some reports that say Mexican soldiers patrolling the airport observed a Falcon arriving several days before the DC-9's arrival. The two Mexican pilots were seen in the area throughout the next few days and reportedly attempted to pay for the DC-9 to make an emergency landing after the airport closed. It is unknown if this is the same aircraft and crew that was arrested. (2)

The plane and the owners

Kenny leased from HW Aviation

Originally manufactured in 1966 for Trans-World Airlines as N1061T, the aircraft has had a long career flying for various individuals and companies, including Tracinda Investment (N241TC), Kenny Rogers (N9KR), Southmark Corporation (N89SM), the Seattle Seahawks (N40SH), Aircraft 45775, Inc, and HW Aviation. (2, 11)

The plane was registered to Royal Sons Motor Yacht Sales, Inc. (4) On April 13, 2006, the aircraft was deregistered and sold to an unknown customer in Venezuela. (2)

One of the main owners was HW Aviation of Dunedin, Florida who leased the plane to people like Seattle Seahawks and Kenny Rogers. HW Aviation went into bankruptcy on February 2004. (10) Aero Flight, a German charter airline that went out of business in November 2005, also owned the plane. (5)

It is unclear whether there is a connection between HW Aviation and Executive Charter Inc., a Clearwater Florida based executive jet charter service, who was in the same kind of business and also closely related to Skyway.

Previously we saw that on November 17, 2004 N900SA got dumped into SkyWay Communications Holding by DuPont Investment Fund 57289, Inc., a non-existing company registered in Costa Rica. (6)

The other player Lantax Holding Gmbh, LLC from Vienna, Austria appears on a list of ready-made companies - and some have names similar to existing companies - from an Estonian off-shore company provider. (12) DuPont investment was probably created - and disappeared - in a similar way.

It is unclear how it got to Royal Sons and it is equally unclear why United Flite (7), located at the same address, is selling the aircraft. (2) It is also unclear why the DC-9 was photographed with the Skyway logo on March 29, 2004 and April 21, 2004. (8)

Michael Carter, an airplane spotter, made a very interesting remark when he spotted the plane at Santa Ana, California on March 29, 2004: "N900SA (cn 45775/71) Del 12/20/1966 to Trans World Airlines as N1061T, made a very rare appearence at SNA operating for the (Transportation Security Administration (TSA)." (8) He was probably confused by the seal.

Companies in proximity to Royal Sons:

Under The Royal Rug

Royal Sons, LLC

Royal Flying Club, Inc.

Royal Rug Cleaner, Inc.

Royal Sons Motor Yacht Sales, Inc.

Huffman Aviation (Share same hangar)

Express One International

Genesis Aviation

United Flite Inc.

Ambassador Airways

SkyWay Communications Holding

Note: Not all of the above are necessarily related.

The other airplane:
Until October 18, 2004 Royal Sons Inc. owned a Beech BC-37 with registration number N391SA and serial number #51104021

The other airplane with false registration (15)

This King Air, the former 76-22560 of the US Army, but now owned by Sky Way Aircraft disappeared during a flight with three persons on board from Despegue del Aeropuerto Caracas to Aeropuerto Santiago Mariño near Margarita in Venezuela. One day later the machine was found in Nicaragua with fake registration N168D (the real N168D is a CN235-300). The Beech is confiscated because there were strong indications it was used for a drugs transport. The crew disappeared without a trace. (13, 14)

Sources:
All text from wikipedia available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights )
1. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N900SA
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N900SA
3. http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBKSL4KSME.html
4. http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/nnumsql.asp?NNumbertxt=120NE
5. http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200604121721
6. http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:ChMgWfgmXJ0J:www.our-street.com/swyc/wheelscominoff.htm+ct=clnk&cd=1 (No longer online)
7. http://www.unitedflite.com/showspecs.php?ad=9
8. http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?cnsearch=45775/71&distinct_entry=true
9. http://ccfcorp.dos.state.fl.us/corpweb/inquiry/cormenu.html
10. http://bankrupt.com/TCR_Public/040206.mbx
11. http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:BxSkFbqh56gJ:bird5.bird.ch/bharms/mcdonnel/dc9_t_1.htm &hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1 (No longer online)
12. http://web.archive.org/web/20050323160858/www.defendo.ee/company.html (Historical record)
13. http://62.250.130.24/308-withphotos.pdf (Original link)
14. http://www.gnn.tv/threads/14650/Mexico_Army_Finds_Tons_of_Cocaine_on_CIA_Plane_arriving_from_Venezuela (Translation)
15. http://www.rescate.com/N391SA.html