US Joins Hunt For Missing Plane

Jun 20, 2003

The United States has joined in the hunt for a passenger jet missing in Africa since last month amid fears that it could be used in a terrorist attack.

The White House has confirmed that it is co-operating with governments on the African continent in the search for the Boeing 727 which took off from an airport in Angola and has not been seen since.

US government spokesman Ari Fleischer has said that there are few leads as to the whereabouts of the aircraft which had been grounded for 14 months at Luanda Airport before it was stolen on May 25.

"We don't have any reliable assessments about what this portends, what it could be, who may be behind it. But it is an issue that is being worked on," he told CNN.

The US involvement was reported earlier this week by the Washington Post which said both the CIA and the State Department were involved in the hunt.

There are concerns, also, for an American pilot who went to inspect the Boeing jet on behalf of an aircraft leasing company in Florida and has since disappeared.


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