We have a bit of a mystery on our hands…and some drug humor as well, all thanks to airliners.net. The issue: 31lbs of cocaine found on an AA plane at Tusla earlier today.
CNBC reports that while working on the nose gear of an unidentified aircraft, an AA mechanic found a brick-like object. Local police were alerted and the object was soon identified as cocaine…worth $434,000.
Justin Green, a spokesman for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office said the aircraft arrived from Bogota to Miami on Sunday. The aircraft was sent to Tulsa later that day, where AA has a maintenance base. Greed added the case has been turned over to the Miami office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Geek Time: What Kind of Plane?
The article does not mention the aircraft type, but here is where thing get a bit confusing for aircraft geeks like me. There were two flights from Bogota to Miami on Sunday, both operated by Airbus A319s.
Tulsa, as far as I know, is a Boeing maintenance base. On Sunday there was one scheduled flight to Tulsa, a Boeing 737-800. This could not be the aircraft because 1.) there were no 737-800s used from Bogota to Miami and 2.) if the plane had maintenance issues it likely would not have been used for another passenger flight.
There was also a special 9000 series flight number from Miami to Tulsa earlier today, operated by a 757-200. This also could not have been the flight since there were no 757-200s from Bogota to Miami yesterday.
So which plane was it? Perhaps the flight wasn’t from Bogota but somewhere else in Colombia?
Unlikely. AA flies to Barranquillla (E170), Bogota (A319), Medellin (A319) and Cali (A319) in Colombia. No Boeing 757-200s are utilized.
So I turn it over to you — what plane was it?
Humor
All credit to airliners.net for the following humor–
- I guess it was a C-check…
- And I thought the white line on the runway was for guidance…
- Funny that the coke was found in the nose gear area.
Sobriety
But here’s something not so humorous — how did seven bricks of cocaine wind up in the nose of an American Airlines plane?
What if those packages of drugs had been bombs instead?
I ridicule airport security often as a charade for the weak-minded, and once again I assert here — we are not safe. There are so many security lapses and opportunities to inflict terror it is downright sobering. Meanwhile, TSA continue to paw through carry-on bags for the water bottle you forgot.
I’m glad it was just cocaine…this time.
Maybe it was American’s new first class perk, CocAAine.
On a recent flight I wittnessed something that put all passenger life in danger. Immediately upon landing I reported to airport security, no action was taken and the plane took flight again endangering those people in it again. I called the airline and was told to email and wait for a callback…their irresponsibility put over 100 passengers in danger that I know of
It was a 737. I was on the inbound united flight Sunday night. And I saw the plane out in the tarmac. I was wondering why it was out there lol.
If it was a 737, that means it did not come from Colombia.