Disappearance of a Twin-Engine Charter Aircraft Between Pointe Noire and Luanda (D2-FFT)

Flight Details and Disappearance A twin-engine aircraft was operating a charter flight from Pointe Noire to Luanda with one passenger on board. The passenger was identified as Rashid Mustapha, a Mauritanian businessman who had been a candidate in the 2007 Mauritanian presidential elections. Before takeoff, the passenger contacted his bodyguard and asked that they be ready upon arrival at Luanda-4 de Fevereiro Airport. The aircraft departed Pointe Noire Airport at 2321 local time for a flight expected to last 75 to 90 minutes. While cruising over the area of Caxito, approximately 50 kilometers northeast of Luanda, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens at 0020 local time, just before it began its descent. ## Search and Aftermath Search and rescue operations were conducted for several days but were abandoned when no trace of the aircraft or its three occupants was found. It was possible that the aircraft crashed at night in the ocean off the Angolan coast, but this was not confirmed because wreckage was never found. In March 2013, unconfirmed reports and rumors in Africa suggested that the aircraft had not crashed and that Rashid Mustapha was being held hostage by a terrorist group somewhere in Africa. These claims were not confirmed by officials in Mauritania or Angola. Because no trace of the aircraft was found, all hypotheses remained open.