On 09dec2005 the Yorkshire Ranter published an initiative in an attempt to use the UN blacklist, of companies linked to Victor Bout, to identify suspect aircraft and report use of them. One is even suggested to report them to the authorities and block use of them. I reproduce the page below-
Earlier this week, the US Department of the Treasury's order to freeze the assets of a variety of Viktor Bout companies was extended to the entire world by the UN Security Council's sanctions committee. All assets belonging to the persons and organisations named in this list are now subject to confiscation anywhere in the world.
The list is, certainly, a little out of date. Several of the operating companies listed have ceased activity, and there is no mention of Phoenix Aviation, Jet Line International, or Aerocom among others. (The delay between the US Treasury's action and this action is apparently due to the time it took the Office of Foreign Assets Control to pass on documents to the UN, that and Russian objections to the inclusion of Viktor's brother, Sergei, founder of Air Bas and CET Aviation.) However, a non-trivial number of aircraft continue to fly in the name of firms named by the UN.
This leaves two lines of action: one, to identify the newer firms, and two, to make the UN blacklist a reality. It's time to find these aircraft and demand their seizure. All bloggers are invited to mirror this and help land them on the fire dump, which is where most of these planes will end up given their age and general condition.
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The list is currently as follows, correct as of today: UN-76497, Ilyushin 76-D. Serial number 43402039. This is probably the aircraft referred to in the UN list with MoldTransavia, and is now with GST Aero, repeatedly referred to in UNSC Expert Panel reports. It was also involved in the events detailed here. The most recent photo is here.
SANTA CRUZ IMPERIAL
IRBIS AIR COMPANY
AIR BAS
GAMBIA NEW MILLENIUM
SAN AIR GENERAL TRADING
TRANS AVIATION GLOBAL |
Notes:
Most of the Santa Cruz aircraft are probably beyond finding, but even negative information is worth having.
Air Bas has largely been closed down at least as aircraft registration is concerned - 3C-KKO is the last known active aircraft in their name.
Boeing 727 c/n 22046 has not yet been reported seen with tailnumber UN-B2703.
| In May 2006 I received following email about UN-B7201 from Speedy9764: "Just thought I would drop you a line as I have just flown on this aircraft ! Today I was flying Air Astana from Almaty in Kazakhstan to Aktau in Kazakhstan, via Astana and Atyrou. Bit of an old bus and we made 2 rather heavy landings bouncing at least 3 times. This was on a scheduled airline, Air Astana, they claim to operate 737/757/airbus which is why I was surprised to be on an old 727. One thing I did notice is that the aircraft was unpainted, no logo for the airline and no markings on the tail which is unusual for Air Astana, they are normally a very good airline and operate to or above normal western standards. As far as I am aware, the aircraft is currently at Aktobe airport, but I think it is due to go to Almaty tomorrow." |
Others that have supported this initiative are-
Douglas Farah http://www.douglasfarah.com/firedump.shtml
Kathryn Cramer http://www.kathryncramer.com/kathryn_cramer/operation_firedump/index.html
Tim Ireland http://www.bloggerheads.com/
Tim Worstall http://timworstall.typepad.com/timworstall/2005/12/operation_fired.html
The Current Outlook http://thecurrentoutlook.blogsome.com/
Tom Griffin http://tomgriffin.typepad.com/
Merchant of Death, the book... Former West African Bureau Chief of the Washington Post Douglas Farah and Los Angeles Times National Correspondent Stephen Braun detail how a small circle of U.S. officials and international investigators worked doggedly to shut down Viktor Bout's arms pipelines, only to be trumped by Bout's ingenuity and by their own inability-and, in some cases, unwillingness-to confront the dark side of the new world order.
