ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 185151
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| Date: | Saturday 30 June 1990 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Mitsubishi MU-2B-40 |
| Owner/operator: | Rod Aero Aircraft Brokerage Inc |
| Registration: | N25GM |
| MSN: | 412SA |
| Year of manufacture: | 1979 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Boa Vista, Roraima -
 Brazil
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil |
| San Juan, Peuto Rico | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The aircraft was reportedly being used in a clandestine operation to seize Pablo Escobar and spirit him away to US jurisdiction. The plan apparently entailed luring him to an air strip about 140 miles from Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil, take him prisoner, and then secretly fly him out of the country to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The first part of the operation is said to have worked but contact with the pilot who was to collect him broke down and the flight arrived a day late. Meanwhile, it would seem that the situation at the air strip had changed and, when the aircraft arrived, while it was circling the strip to try to establish contact with the ground party, it came under small arms fire.
The aircraft's left engine was hit, began surging and caught fire. The pilot attempted to shut down the engine and feather the propeller but was unable to and (the propeller continued to windmill?). He subsequently elected to divert to another nearby air strip. However, on touchdown, the aircraft's nose undercarriage sunk into soft ground and failed. The aircraft began to slide towards the left side of the strip, the left tip tank struck the ground and was torn open.
The pilot was able to swing the aircraft back to the right but the right undercarriage collapsed as it was brought to a stop. After coming to rest, fuel leaking from the damaged tip tank was ignited by the still burning left engine and the aircraft was destroyed.
The loss is understood to have happened sometime in mid-1990 but the actual date is not reported. Therefore the date of June 30 1990 is presumed as "nominal", but not yet confirmed. Although a accident report was filed with the NTSB, and an insurance claim was filed (for $700,000 to cover the loss of the aircraft) no NTSB report has been published. The FAA only belatedly cancelled the registration N25GM on June 4 2013 - 23 years after the accident.
Sources:
1. Drugging America: A Trojan Horse, 2nd Edition by Rodney Stich
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=25GM
3. https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N25GM
4. http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?page=7&typeid=247
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Mar-2016 22:27 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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