N44982
Encyclopedia
]
Rendition aircraft are aircraft used by national governments to move prisoners internationally, a practice known as rendition
, sometimes referred to as extraordinary rendition
. The aircraft listed in this article have been identified in international news media as being used for prisoner transports.
, identified as a CIA front company.
When the aircraft landed in Copenhagen
, Denmark
on March 7, 2005, the Danish opposition party Red-Green Alliance
demanded an explanation of the plane's presence.
The last flight originated in Istanbul, Turkey on March 7, 2005. Turkish media reported at the time that individuals of interest to the CIA captured by the country's security services were to be handed over to the American intelligence agency.
Photo of Learjet (N221SG)
that the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday, February 6, 2007, flew from Tashkent
to Kabul
, Afghanistan
on September 21, 2003, and then to Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
in Poland
, landing at 9 p.m. "It stayed on the ground for 57 minutes before taking off for Baneasa Airport in Bucharest, Romania, an airport that, according to the Marty Report, 'bears all the characteristics of a detainee transfer or drop-off point,'" states author Tom Hundley on page 14 of the Tribune. The 737 then continued on to Rabat, Morocco, and Guantanamo Bay, the Marty Report said.
"The registered owners of both planes [Boeing 737, N313P, and Gulfstream V, N379P] appear to be CIA front companies. Previous attempts by the Tribune to contact the owners produced a trail of non-existent people at unlikely addresses, or law firms that did not want to discuss the nature of their interest in aviation. Both planes have been involved in rendition cases documented by the Tribune, other media and EU investigators," states the Chicago
daily on page 14.
The N313P registration for a Boeing 737 was subsequently cancelled, and it was reassigned to an experimental RV-7A.
The 737 was re-registered as N4476S in ownership of Keeler&Tate Management a company located in Reno, Nevada. This photo of the aircraft was taken the day after the 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid.
Boeing Business Jet
(BBJ) with the tail number "N4476S", owned by Keeler & Tate Management and is reported by news media to be used as a US Department of Defense prisoner transport. It is also known as the "Guantánamo Bay Express". The aircraft was previously registered N313P, and owned by Premier Executive Transport Services
.
prisoner transport, also known as "Guantánamo
Bay Express". The craft has been reported to being used to transport suspected terrorists
to undisclosed locations for either extraordinary rendition
or into the CIA prison system. It has been the subject of criminal complaints and parliamentary inquiries.
According to an in-depth investigation into the worldwide network of detention and interrogation facilities employed in the War on Terror
, by the British Guardian
newspaper, (March 2005):
and a citizen of Yemen
, had been seen being forced onto the plane at Jinnah International Airport
by Pakistani security officers on the morning of October 23, 2001. The Chicago Tribune reported on the aircraft again on February 6, 2007, stating that N379P departed Washington Dulles International Airport
July 27, 2003, and flew to Frankfurt, Germany according to FAA records. The FAA then records the Gulfstream taking off from Tashkent, Uzbekistan on July 31, 2003, bound for Glasgow, Scotland, and then return to Dulles. The Tribune then states that Polish aviation records indicate that N379P landed at Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
, a remote airfield at Szymany
, Poland, at 2:58 a.m. on July 30, 2003 after a flight from Afghanistan. How the aircraft moved from Frankfurt to Tashkent remains unreported. The Szymany airport is located southwest of the Stare Kiejkuty
intelligence base in northern Poland.
The executive jet with the tail number N379P was again brought to public attention by Swedish TV4's
documentary, Det brutna löftet ("The broken promise"), aired May 17, 2004. The documentary claimed that the expulsion of two men, Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery - ordered by the Cabinet - to Egypt on December 18, 2001 was carried out by hooded U.S. agents. The plane booked by the Swedish Security Police
(SÄPO) was cancelled when another plane arrived - N379P - a Gulfstream V
executive jet supplied by the firm (Premier Executive Transport Services
, Inc.) which works exclusively for the U.S. Defense Department.
Agiza and al-Zery were arrested and brought to Bromma airport in Stockholm where Swedish police handed them over to hooded operatives. The two prisoners had their clothes cut from their bodies by scissors, without their hand- and footcuffs being loosened. The naked and chained prisoners were given suppository of unknown kind inserted into their anus, and diapers were put on them. They were forcibly dressed in dark overalls. Their hands and feet are chained to a specially designed harness. On the plane, both men are blindfolded and hooded. The plane took off at 21.49 and set course towards Egypt.
Later on, when the Gulfstream's log books came into a journalist's hands, the wider scope became clear:
registered in Portland, Oregon. Its registration was changed once more on January 20, 2006 as N126CH to XXXXX, 2930 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33137-4122. It was sold and reregistered to Wilmington Trust
Company, 1100 N Market St, Wilmington, Delaware on August 18, 2006. The Aircraft was reregistered to VH-CCC and is now owned by Crown Melbourne Ltd, Australia where it is now used as a 'high roller' transport for Crown Casino
.
s to their casino in Melbourne, Australia.
s (JPATS), managed by the U.S. Marshals Service. JPATS is responsible for moving prisoners and non-US citizen criminals around and has its own fleet of aircraft, as well as frequently leasing others. N596GA is also said to have been used in the CIA's programme of extraordinary rendition against terrorist subjects."
The author also mentions N379P, of Premiere Executive Transport Services, (later N8068V and N44982), and its alleged use in rendition missions.
As of at least June 24th, 2011, this Gulfstream V, construction number (c/n) 596, flies as N977GA registered to the United States Department of Justice.
On the aforementioned date, c/n 596 was dispatched to California to retrieve fugitive New England crime boss "Jimmy" Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine
Greig. N977GA (c/n 596) transported the couple to Boston's Logan International Airport.
, was seen in Cairo on February 18, 2003, wearing the teams logos. Because of the timing of the aircraft's arrival and departure, it was linked by the media as possibly the aircraft used to render Abu Omar
, who had been captured in Italy and taken to Cairo
where he was imprisoned by the Egyptians
Between June, 2002 and January 2005, the aircraft made 51 trips to Guantánamo Bay, as well as 82 visits to Dulles International Airport and Andrews Air Force Base
. It also visited U.S. air bases at Ramstein and Rhein-Main in Germany, Afghanistan, Morocco, Dubai, Jordan, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic.
The aircraft was subsequently re-registered N227SV, with ownership being Assembly Point Aviation, which offers the aircraft for charter.
, Mexico, carrying 3.2 tons of cocaine
. The Gulfstream II business jet was registered to Donna Blue Aircraft, Inc.
The Gulfstream with tail number
N987SA has been involved in the transport of extraordinary rendition victims to Guantanamo Bay. Logs also show that the plane flew twice between Washington, D.C.
and Guantanamo and once between Oxford, Connecticut
and Guantanamo. The American flights would have been CIA and Pentagon interrogators being ferried to interrogations at Guantanamo. At the time of the Guantanamo flights, the plane was managed by Air Rutter International, a California-based air charter service. It was then sold on August 30 to Donna Blue Aircraft, owned by two Brazilians and sold on to two Americans on September 16. references below It departed Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on September 18 for Cancun, Mexico, then onto Colombia to pick up the drugs before returning to Mexico. It was forced to crash land near the town on Tixkobob after being chased. "The aircraft had been orbiting over the town for almost two hours prior to the crash, although Mexican military aircraft had already been tracking it since it first entered Mexican air space. Soldiers recovered 132 bags containing 3.5 tons of cocaine from the aircraft wreckage. The injured pilot was found and arrested the next day."
, a subsidiary of Boeing, handled the logistical planning for the CIA's extraordinary rendition flights. The allegation is based on information from an ex-employee who quoted Bob Overby, managing director of the company as saying "We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights—you know, the torture flights. Let's face it, some of these flights end up that way." The article went on to suggest that this may make Jeppesen a potential defendant in a law suit by Khaled El-Masri.
has come under internal and external pressure to inspect aircraft at Shannon Airport
to investigate whether or not they contain extraordinary rendition captives.
of Bobigny
opened up an instruction in order "to verify the presence in Le Bourget Airport
, on July 20, 2005, of the plane numbered N50BH." This instruction was opened following a complaint deposed in December 2005 by the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH) NGO ("Human Rights League") and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) NGO on charges of "arbitrary detention", "crime of torture" and "non-respect of the rights of war prisoners". It has as objective to determine if the plane was used to transport CIA prisoners to Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
and if the French authorities had knowledge of this stop. However, the lawyer defending the LDH declared that he was surprised that the instruction was only opened on January 20, 2006, and that no verifications had been done before.
On December 2, 2005, conservative newspaper Le Figaro
had revealed the existence of two CIA planes that had landed in France, suspected of transporting CIA prisoners. But the instruction concerned only N50BH, which was a Gulfstream III, which would have landed at Le Bourget on July 20, 2005, coming from Oslo
, Norway
. The other suspected aircraft would have landed in Brest
on March 31, 2002. It is investigated by the Canadian
authorities, as it would have been flying from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
in Canada, via Keflavík
in Iceland
before going to Turkey
.
.
reported November 24, 2005, that the CIA still uses an American military base in Germany to transport terrorism suspects without informing the German government. The Berliner Zeitung
reported the following day there was documentation of 85 takeoffs and landings by planes with a "high probability" of being operated by the CIA, at Ramstein
, the Rhein-Main Air Base
and others. The newspaper cited experts and "plane-spotters" who observed the planes as responsible for the tally.
MEP
Ana Gomes and by Rui Costa Pinto, journalist of Visão review. The Portuguese general prosecutor, Cândida Almeida, head of the Central Investigation and Penal Action Department (DCIAP), announced the opening of investigations on February 5, 2007. They will be centered on the issue of "torture or inhuman and cruel treatment," and instigated by allegations of "illegal activities and serious human rights violations" made by MEP Ana Gomes to the attorney general, Pinto Monteiro, on January 26, 2007.
One of the most critic voice against the scarce collaboration provided by the Portuguese government to the European Parliament Commission which investigated CIA flights, Ana Gomes declared that, although she had no doubt that permission of these illegal flights were frequent during Durão Barroso (2002–2004) and Santana Lopes (2004–2005)' governments, "during the [Socialist] government of José Sócrates
[2005-], 24 flights which passed through Portuguese territory" are registered. Active in the TDIP commission, Ana Gomes complained about the Portuguese state's reluctance to provide information, leading her to tensions with the Foreign minister, Luís Amado
, member of the same party
. Ana Gomes declared herself satisfied with the opening of the investigations, but underlined that she had always claimed that a parliamentary inquiry would be necessary.
On the other hand, journalist Rui Costa Pinto was heard by the DCIAP, as he had written an article, refused by Visão, about flights passing by Lajes Field
, a Portuguese airbase used by the US Air Force, in the Azores
.
Approximately 150 CIA flights which have flown through Portugal have been identified.
94 percent of the Guantanamo captives are reported to have been carried on planes that landed in Portugal.
Rendition aircraft are aircraft used by national governments to move prisoners internationally, a practice known as rendition
Rendition (law)
In law, rendition is a "surrender" or "handing over" of persons or property, particularly from one jurisdiction to another. For criminal suspects, extradition is the most common type of rendition. Rendition can also be seen as the act of handing over, after the request for extradition has taken...
, sometimes referred to as extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
. The aircraft listed in this article have been identified in international news media as being used for prisoner transports.
N221SG
N221SG is a nondescript Learjet 35 with the tail number "N221SG", reported in the media to possibly be used as a US Department of Defense prisoner transport. The plane is registered to Path Corporation of Rehoboth Beach, DelawareRehoboth Beach, Delaware
Rehoboth Beach is a city in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 1,327, a decrease of 11.2% from 2000...
, identified as a CIA front company.
When the aircraft landed in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
on March 7, 2005, the Danish opposition party Red-Green Alliance
Red-Green Alliance (Denmark)
The Red-Green Alliance is a socialist political party in Denmark.- History :The party was formed in 1989 as an electoral alliance by three left-wing parties, Left Socialists , Communist Party of Denmark and Socialist Workers Party...
demanded an explanation of the plane's presence.
The last flight originated in Istanbul, Turkey on March 7, 2005. Turkish media reported at the time that individuals of interest to the CIA captured by the country's security services were to be handed over to the American intelligence agency.
Photo of Learjet (N221SG)
N313P
N313P was a Boeing 737Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
that the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday, February 6, 2007, flew from Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
to Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
on September 21, 2003, and then to Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
Szczytno-Szymany International Airport is a currently inoperative Polish regional airport located in the village Szymany, some 10 km from the center of the city of Szczytno in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in the North of Poland. It is the only airport in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, landing at 9 p.m. "It stayed on the ground for 57 minutes before taking off for Baneasa Airport in Bucharest, Romania, an airport that, according to the Marty Report, 'bears all the characteristics of a detainee transfer or drop-off point,'" states author Tom Hundley on page 14 of the Tribune. The 737 then continued on to Rabat, Morocco, and Guantanamo Bay, the Marty Report said.
"The registered owners of both planes [Boeing 737, N313P, and Gulfstream V, N379P] appear to be CIA front companies. Previous attempts by the Tribune to contact the owners produced a trail of non-existent people at unlikely addresses, or law firms that did not want to discuss the nature of their interest in aviation. Both planes have been involved in rendition cases documented by the Tribune, other media and EU investigators," states the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
daily on page 14.
The N313P registration for a Boeing 737 was subsequently cancelled, and it was reassigned to an experimental RV-7A.
The 737 was re-registered as N4476S in ownership of Keeler&Tate Management a company located in Reno, Nevada. This photo of the aircraft was taken the day after the 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid.
N4476S
N4476S (manufacturer's construction number 33010/1037) is a plain white 737-7BCBoeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
Boeing Business Jet
Boeing Business Jet
|-External links:* .* .*...
(BBJ) with the tail number "N4476S", owned by Keeler & Tate Management and is reported by news media to be used as a US Department of Defense prisoner transport. It is also known as the "Guantánamo Bay Express". The aircraft was previously registered N313P, and owned by Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services was an airline listed as Foreign Corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is widely believed to be a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency...
.
N44982
The Gulfstream V executive jet with manufacturer serial number 581, changed registrations several times to avoid detection. Among the collection of former registrations are tail numbers , , ). The aircraft has been reported in several press sources as a U.S. Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
prisoner transport, also known as "Guantánamo
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
Bay Express". The craft has been reported to being used to transport suspected terrorists
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
to undisclosed locations for either extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
or into the CIA prison system. It has been the subject of criminal complaints and parliamentary inquiries.
According to an in-depth investigation into the worldwide network of detention and interrogation facilities employed in the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
, by the British Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper, (March 2005):
Background
The first media mention of N379P was six weeks after September 11, 2001, when, according to the Chicago Tribune, a Pakistani newspaper reported that a student at the University of KarachiUniversity of Karachi
The University of Karachi is a public university located in Karachi, Pakistan. It serves an on-campus student population of more than 24,000. According to the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, it is ranked among the top three universities of the country...
and a citizen of Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, had been seen being forced onto the plane at Jinnah International Airport
Jinnah International Airport
Jinnah International Airport is Pakistan's largest international and domestic airport. It is located in Karachi, Pakistan, and its passenger terminal is also commonly known as the جناح ٹرمینل Jinnah Terminal...
by Pakistani security officers on the morning of October 23, 2001. The Chicago Tribune reported on the aircraft again on February 6, 2007, stating that N379P departed Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
July 27, 2003, and flew to Frankfurt, Germany according to FAA records. The FAA then records the Gulfstream taking off from Tashkent, Uzbekistan on July 31, 2003, bound for Glasgow, Scotland, and then return to Dulles. The Tribune then states that Polish aviation records indicate that N379P landed at Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
Szczytno-Szymany International Airport is a currently inoperative Polish regional airport located in the village Szymany, some 10 km from the center of the city of Szczytno in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in the North of Poland. It is the only airport in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
, a remote airfield at Szymany
Szczytno
Szczytno is a town in north-eastern Poland with 27,970 inhabitants . Previously part of the Olsztyn Voivodeship, Szczytno was assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999. It is the seat of Szczytno County....
, Poland, at 2:58 a.m. on July 30, 2003 after a flight from Afghanistan. How the aircraft moved from Frankfurt to Tashkent remains unreported. The Szymany airport is located southwest of the Stare Kiejkuty
Stare Kiejkuty (base)
On the territory village of Stare Kiejkuty, Poland, is a restricted military area that is the seat of Jednostka Wojskowa 2669 , Ośrodek Szkolenia Agencji Wywiadu " Since 2005 it has attracted scrutiny as being a black site involved in the CIA's program of extraordinary...
intelligence base in northern Poland.
The executive jet with the tail number N379P was again brought to public attention by Swedish TV4's
TV4 AB
TV4 Group is a Swedish media company that owns the largest commercial television channel in Sweden, TV4.Since 2007, the company is fully owned by Bonnier through Nordic Broadcasting Oy...
documentary, Det brutna löftet ("The broken promise"), aired May 17, 2004. The documentary claimed that the expulsion of two men, Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery - ordered by the Cabinet - to Egypt on December 18, 2001 was carried out by hooded U.S. agents. The plane booked by the Swedish Security Police
SAPO
SAPO , Servidor de Apontadores Portugueses, is a brand and subsidiary company of the Portugal Telecom Group...
(SÄPO) was cancelled when another plane arrived - N379P - a Gulfstream V
Gulfstream Aerospace
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is a producer of several models of jet aircraft. Gulfstream has been a unit of General Dynamics since 1999.The company has produced more than 1,500 aircraft for corporate, government, private, and military customers around the world...
executive jet supplied by the firm (Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services was an airline listed as Foreign Corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is widely believed to be a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency...
, Inc.) which works exclusively for the U.S. Defense Department.
Agiza and al-Zery were arrested and brought to Bromma airport in Stockholm where Swedish police handed them over to hooded operatives. The two prisoners had their clothes cut from their bodies by scissors, without their hand- and footcuffs being loosened. The naked and chained prisoners were given suppository of unknown kind inserted into their anus, and diapers were put on them. They were forcibly dressed in dark overalls. Their hands and feet are chained to a specially designed harness. On the plane, both men are blindfolded and hooded. The plane took off at 21.49 and set course towards Egypt.
Later on, when the Gulfstream's log books came into a journalist's hands, the wider scope became clear:
Registration History
Originally N581GA, it became N379P in 2000 when it was acquired by Premier Executive Transport Services. In December 2003, it became N8068V. On December 1, 2004 it was reregistered N44982, and ownership was transferred to Bayard Foreign Marketing, an apparent shell companyShell (corporation)
A shell corporation is a company which serves as a vehicle for business transactions without itself having any significant assets or operations. Shell corporations are not in themselves illegal and have legitimate business purposes. However, they are a main component of the underground economy,...
registered in Portland, Oregon. Its registration was changed once more on January 20, 2006 as N126CH to XXXXX, 2930 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33137-4122. It was sold and reregistered to Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust was founded on July 8, 1903 as a banking, trust, and safe deposit company by DuPont president T. Coleman du Pont.On November 1, 2010, Wilmington Trust announced a merger with M&T Bank, of Buffalo, NY. The deal values 107-year-old Wilmington Trust at $3.84 a share, or 46 percent...
Company, 1100 N Market St, Wilmington, Delaware on August 18, 2006. The Aircraft was reregistered to VH-CCC and is now owned by Crown Melbourne Ltd, Australia where it is now used as a 'high roller' transport for Crown Casino
Crown Casino
Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a large casino and entertainment precinct located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited....
.
Disappearance from the FAA's online registry
In January 2006, was re-registered as under N126CH Inc. Sometime in late 2006, the records for and seem to have disappeared from the FAA's registration database. In August 2006, the plane was again transferred to under Wilmington Trust Co Trustee. It is now under the ownership of Crown Melbourne Limited, to transport high rollerHigh roller
A high roller, also referred to as a whale in the casino industry, is a gambler who wagers large amounts of money. High rollers often receive lavish "perks" from casinos to lure them onto the gambling floors, such as free private jet transfers, limousine use and use of the casinos' best suites...
s to their casino in Melbourne, Australia.
N596GA/N977GA
Another Gulfstream V, N596GA, manufacturers serial number 596, has also been mentioned in print as a possible transport for the CIA program of extraordinary rendition. Author Dave Willis wrote in Air Forces Monthly in May 2008 that this airframe, ordered in 1999 by the United States Air Force as a C-37A, serial 99-0405, was rolled out as N596GA but only briefly took up its military serial before reverting to the civil registration, issued on September 20, 2001, nine days after the 9-11 attacks. It was registered to National Aircraft Leasing of Greenville, New Castle County in Delaware, "and is believed to have been used by the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation SystemJustice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System
The Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System , nicknamed "Con Air", is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with the transportation of persons in legal custody between prisons, detaining centers, courthouses, and other locations. It is the largest prison...
s (JPATS), managed by the U.S. Marshals Service. JPATS is responsible for moving prisoners and non-US citizen criminals around and has its own fleet of aircraft, as well as frequently leasing others. N596GA is also said to have been used in the CIA's programme of extraordinary rendition against terrorist subjects."
The author also mentions N379P, of Premiere Executive Transport Services, (later N8068V and N44982), and its alleged use in rendition missions.
As of at least June 24th, 2011, this Gulfstream V, construction number (c/n) 596, flies as N977GA registered to the United States Department of Justice.
On the aforementioned date, c/n 596 was dispatched to California to retrieve fugitive New England crime boss "Jimmy" Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine
Greig. N977GA (c/n 596) transported the couple to Boston's Logan International Airport.
N85VM/N227SV
N85VM is a white Gulfstream IV jet aircraft with the tail number "N85VM", reported in the media as possibly being used as a US Department of Defense or CIA prisoner transport. The plane, owned by one of the partners of the Boston Red SoxBoston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
, was seen in Cairo on February 18, 2003, wearing the teams logos. Because of the timing of the aircraft's arrival and departure, it was linked by the media as possibly the aircraft used to render Abu Omar
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr , also known as Abu Omar, is an Egyptian cleric. In 2003 he was living in Milan, Italy, from where he was kidnapped and allegedly later tortured in Egypt. This "Imam rapito affair" prompted a series of investigations in Italy, culminating in the criminal convictions of...
, who had been captured in Italy and taken to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
where he was imprisoned by the Egyptians
Between June, 2002 and January 2005, the aircraft made 51 trips to Guantánamo Bay, as well as 82 visits to Dulles International Airport and Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base
Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington ....
. It also visited U.S. air bases at Ramstein and Rhein-Main in Germany, Afghanistan, Morocco, Dubai, Jordan, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic.
The aircraft was subsequently re-registered N227SV, with ownership being Assembly Point Aviation, which offers the aircraft for charter.
N987SA
On September 24, 2007 N987SA, c/n 172, crashed in the YucatanYucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
, Mexico, carrying 3.2 tons of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. The Gulfstream II business jet was registered to Donna Blue Aircraft, Inc.
The Gulfstream with tail number
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
N987SA has been involved in the transport of extraordinary rendition victims to Guantanamo Bay. Logs also show that the plane flew twice between Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Guantanamo and once between Oxford, Connecticut
Oxford, Connecticut
Oxford is a town located in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,272 at the 2010 Census. There are several areas in Oxford: Quaker Farms, Riverside and Oxford Center. Oxford belongs to the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development Region and the Central...
and Guantanamo. The American flights would have been CIA and Pentagon interrogators being ferried to interrogations at Guantanamo. At the time of the Guantanamo flights, the plane was managed by Air Rutter International, a California-based air charter service. It was then sold on August 30 to Donna Blue Aircraft, owned by two Brazilians and sold on to two Americans on September 16. references below It departed Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on September 18 for Cancun, Mexico, then onto Colombia to pick up the drugs before returning to Mexico. It was forced to crash land near the town on Tixkobob after being chased. "The aircraft had been orbiting over the town for almost two hours prior to the crash, although Mexican military aircraft had already been tracking it since it first entered Mexican air space. Soldiers recovered 132 bags containing 3.5 tons of cocaine from the aircraft wreckage. The injured pilot was found and arrested the next day."
Boeing Jeppesen International Trip Planning
On October 23, 2006, the New Yorker claimed that Jeppesen International Trip PlanningJeppesen
Jeppesen is an American company that specializes in navigational information, operations management solutions and flight training products and services...
, a subsidiary of Boeing, handled the logistical planning for the CIA's extraordinary rendition flights. The allegation is based on information from an ex-employee who quoted Bob Overby, managing director of the company as saying "We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights—you know, the torture flights. Let's face it, some of these flights end up that way." The article went on to suggest that this may make Jeppesen a potential defendant in a law suit by Khaled El-Masri.
Investigations concerning CIA flights
Apart of investigations concerning the extraordinary rendition program (see in particular the European Parliament February 2007 report, which concluded that the CIA had operated 1,245 flights on European territory), several European countries have opened specific investigations concerning CIA flights.Shannon Airport, Ireland
The government of the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
has come under internal and external pressure to inspect aircraft at Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...
to investigate whether or not they contain extraordinary rendition captives.
July 2005 opening of investigations in France
The French attorney generalAttorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of Bobigny
Bobigny
Bobigny is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Bobigny is the préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Bobigny...
opened up an instruction in order "to verify the presence in Le Bourget Airport
Le Bourget Airport
Paris – Le Bourget Airport is an airport located in Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, and Dugny, north-northeast of Paris, France. It is now used only for general aviation as well as air shows...
, on July 20, 2005, of the plane numbered N50BH." This instruction was opened following a complaint deposed in December 2005 by the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH) NGO ("Human Rights League") and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) NGO on charges of "arbitrary detention", "crime of torture" and "non-respect of the rights of war prisoners". It has as objective to determine if the plane was used to transport CIA prisoners to Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
and if the French authorities had knowledge of this stop. However, the lawyer defending the LDH declared that he was surprised that the instruction was only opened on January 20, 2006, and that no verifications had been done before.
On December 2, 2005, conservative newspaper Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
had revealed the existence of two CIA planes that had landed in France, suspected of transporting CIA prisoners. But the instruction concerned only N50BH, which was a Gulfstream III, which would have landed at Le Bourget on July 20, 2005, coming from Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The other suspected aircraft would have landed in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
on March 31, 2002. It is investigated by the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
authorities, as it would have been flying from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
in Canada, via Keflavík
Keflavík
Keflavík is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. In 2009 its population was of 8,169.In 1995 it merged with Njarðvík and Hafnir to form a municipality called Reykjanesbær with a population of 13,971 .- History :...
in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
before going to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
November 2005 opening of investigations in Spain
In November 2005, Spanish newspaper El País reported that CIA planes had landed in the Canary Islands and in Palma de Mallorca. An attorney opened up an investigation concerning these landings which, according to Madrid, were made without official knowledge, thus being a breach of national sovereigntyNational sovereignty
National sovereignty is the doctrine that sovereignty belongs to and derives from the nation, an abstract entity normally linked to a physical territory and its past, present, and future citizens. It is an ideological concept or doctrine derived from liberal political theory...
.
Germany
Business daily HandelsblattHandelsblatt
The Handelsblatt is a leading German language business newspaper, published in Düsseldorf by the Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. It has a circulation of 145.437 daily copies. Its editor-in-chief is Gabor Steingart...
reported November 24, 2005, that the CIA still uses an American military base in Germany to transport terrorism suspects without informing the German government. The Berliner Zeitung
Berliner Zeitung
The Berliner Zeitung, founded in 1945, is a German center-left daily newspaper based in Berlin, published by Berliner Verlag. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since unification. In 2003, the Berliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend...
reported the following day there was documentation of 85 takeoffs and landings by planes with a "high probability" of being operated by the CIA, at Ramstein
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
, the Rhein-Main Air Base
Rhein-Main Air Base
Rhein-Main Air Base was a U.S. Air Force / NATO military airbase near the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It occupied the south side of Frankfurt International Airport. Its airport codes are discontinued....
and others. The newspaper cited experts and "plane-spotters" who observed the planes as responsible for the tally.
2007 Investigations in Portugal
Portugal opened up an investigation concerning CIA flights in February 2007, on the basics of declarations by SocialistSocialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
Ana Gomes and by Rui Costa Pinto, journalist of Visão review. The Portuguese general prosecutor, Cândida Almeida, head of the Central Investigation and Penal Action Department (DCIAP), announced the opening of investigations on February 5, 2007. They will be centered on the issue of "torture or inhuman and cruel treatment," and instigated by allegations of "illegal activities and serious human rights violations" made by MEP Ana Gomes to the attorney general, Pinto Monteiro, on January 26, 2007.
One of the most critic voice against the scarce collaboration provided by the Portuguese government to the European Parliament Commission which investigated CIA flights, Ana Gomes declared that, although she had no doubt that permission of these illegal flights were frequent during Durão Barroso (2002–2004) and Santana Lopes (2004–2005)' governments, "during the [Socialist] government of José Sócrates
José Sócrates
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH , commonly known by José Sócrates , is a Portuguese politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011....
[2005-], 24 flights which passed through Portuguese territory" are registered. Active in the TDIP commission, Ana Gomes complained about the Portuguese state's reluctance to provide information, leading her to tensions with the Foreign minister, Luís Amado
Luís Amado
Luís Filipe Marques Amado was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal in the government led by the Socialist Party. Before replacing Diogo Freitas do Amaral as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 30 June 2006, Amado was the Minister of Defence...
, member of the same party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
. Ana Gomes declared herself satisfied with the opening of the investigations, but underlined that she had always claimed that a parliamentary inquiry would be necessary.
On the other hand, journalist Rui Costa Pinto was heard by the DCIAP, as he had written an article, refused by Visão, about flights passing by Lajes Field
Lajes Field
Lajes Field or Lajes Air Base , officially designated Air Base No. 4 , is a multi-use air field, home to the Portuguese Air Force Base Aérea Nº4 and Azores Air Zone Command , a United States Air Force detachment , and a regional air passenger terminal located near Lajes...
, a Portuguese airbase used by the US Air Force, in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
.
Approximately 150 CIA flights which have flown through Portugal have been identified.
94 percent of the Guantanamo captives are reported to have been carried on planes that landed in Portugal.
See also
- Aero Contractors (US)Aero Contractors (US)Aero Contractors Ltd., a private charter company based in Smithfield, North Carolina, is said to provide discrete air transport services for the Central Intelligence Agency.The company was founded in 1979 by the late Jim Rhyne, a former pilot with Air America...
- Extraordinary renditionExtraordinary renditionExtraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
- Extraordinary Rendition (film)Extraordinary Rendition (film)Extraordinary Rendition is a 2007 drama film directed by Jim Threapleton and starring Omar Berdouni and Andy Serkis. The film was premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland on 8 August 2007, and at the Edinburgh Film Festival on 21 August 2007, but is still awaiting a full commercial release...
- Rendition (film)Rendition (film)Rendition is a 2007 drama film directed by Gavin Hood and starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri who was...
- Rendition (law)Rendition (law)In law, rendition is a "surrender" or "handing over" of persons or property, particularly from one jurisdiction to another. For criminal suspects, extradition is the most common type of rendition. Rendition can also be seen as the act of handing over, after the request for extradition has taken...
- Tepper AviationTepper AviationTepper Aviation, Inc. is based at the Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, Florida. The company has a long association with the CIA. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was widely reported to be flying weapons into Angola to arm the UNITA rebels...
N987SA references
- Cocaine planes make a "Bogotá Connection" by Bill Conroy, NarcoNews. April 11, 2008.
- New Document Provides Further Evidence That Owner of Crashed Cocaine Jet Was a U.S. Government Operative by Bill Conroy, Narco News Bulletin. December 1, 2007.
- Who owned drug plane that crashed in Mexico Jay Root and Kevin G. Hall McClatchyMcClatchy-Surname:* Carlos K. McClatchy, president of The McClatchy Company; grandson of Charles Kenny McClatchy* Charles Kenny McClatchy , editor of the Sacramento Bee and founder of The McClatchy Company...
September 27, 2007 - Was Crashed Gulfstream II Drug Plane Owned By CIA? Aero-News.net. 12 Oct 2007.
- Jet linked to CIA crashes in Yucatan with drug shipment aboard by Jean-Guy Allard, Granma International. October 5, 2007.
- Dogging a High-Flying Bird By Bob Norman, Broward Palm Beach New Times. October 11, 2007.
External links
- http://radarspotters.eu
- Planepictures
- Photos of N4476S/N313P
- N8068V FAA
- N44982 FAA
- U.S. accused of 'torture flights' (Times Online)
- Gulfstream N379P becomes N8068V (Intellectual Captital Group)
- No landing permission needed for U.S. military jet (archives.tcm.ie)
- Guantanámo Bay Express uses Shannon Airport (Indymedia)
- Aircraft used for al-Qaeda suspects landed at Shannon (.sbpost)
- Expulsions carried out by U.S. agents (Statewatch)
- A Scandal in Sweden (Zmag)
- Information Clearing House
- 04 December 27 Washington Post article
- CBS: CIA Flying Suspects To Torture?
- CIA sends terror suspects abroad for interrogation (CNN)
- CIA secretly jets suspects overseas for interrogation (AFP)
- Below the Radar: CIA Rendition Flights (Amnesty International)
- BBC - Mystery Flights (Olenka Frenkiel)
- Airliners.net profile of N987SA