Crash Jet Had Air of Mystery

[TallDutch]

October 1, 2007 -- A corporate jet owned by a principal in a trendy Meatpacking District hotel reportedly made several mysterious flights over the years to the U.S. military installation in Guantanamo Bay where terror suspects are held.
The jet was managed and offered for charter by a company owned by the hotelier's business associate.

Yesterday, a lawyer for an ex-worker at the air-charter company said his client knew that up to 80 percent of the firm's rentals of its fleet of planes involved "confidential, governmental flights."

Ex-employee Mark Billey said there were "governmental people, armed people. He did recall flights to Long Beach where they did have a lot of U.S. Marshals," according to the lawyer, Ian Friedman, who spoke to Billey in an Ohio federal prison yesterday.

Billey - who worked at the company for six months until his arrest in April - is awaiting trial on unrelated kiddie-sex charges.

The intrigue surrounding the corporate craft, a Gulfstream II, deepened last Monday, when the plane crashed in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula carrying 3.6 tons of cocaine.

The Gulfstream had been owned by Hotel Gansevoort proprietor William Achenbaum from 2001 until Aug. 30 of this year - more than three weeks before the plane crashed.

The plane was reportedly sold to Florida aircraft broker Donna Blue Aircraft, which then promptly peddled it to another man, Clyde O'Connor, for $2 million.

When Achenbaum owned the plane, it was managed by a Long Beach, Calif., company, Air Rutter International, which offered it for charter.

Air Rutter is owned by Arik Kislin of Long Island, who according to the Hotel Gansevoort's liquor license is also a principal in the hotel.

Earlier this year, The Post reported that a Manhattan company Kislin ran in the 1990s had sponsored a U.S. visa sought by an alleged Russian mob hit man.

During the time that Kislin's associate, Achenbaum, owned the plane, it made trips in 2003, 2004 and 2005 to the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the McClatchy Newspapers group reported.

Bill Cripe, general manager of Air Rutter International, denied the plane flew to Guantanamo during charters and that the company leased planes to the government.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pri ... ystery.htm (http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/10012007/news/worldnews/crash_jet_had_air_of_mystery.htm)

[Nonstop2AUH]

Weird, wild stuff. But not totally unexpected since aircraft owners hire management companies to charter out the planes when the owners aren't using them and in recent years a big use of private jet charter has been the US government. While mainly they seem to use charter operators like Presidential (i.e. Blackwater) who have their own fleet, I am sure alot of charters go through a broker or management company for extra capacity (or for reasons of anonymity). Still kind of odd how many different interests this particular story links together!

[PhilDernerJr]

Keep in mind that Gitmo is like ANY military base in the sense that there are all kinds of charter flights for different reasons. This article is playing on the popular prisoners there to imply super secret prisoner transport flights or something. But the fact is that any kind of charter, even if it's something as simple as transporting a pack of blank index cards, can be considered confidential.

[adam613]

Keep in mind that Gitmo is like ANY military base in the sense that there are all kinds of charter flights for different reasons. This article is playing on the popular prisoners there to imply super secret prisoner transport flights or something. But the fact is that any kind of charter, even if it's something as simple as transporting a pack of blank index cards, can be considered confidential.

And that principle works both ways; since Gitmo is a human rights disaster for our government, everything that goes on there, no matter how mundane, is likely to be kept secret.

I've been told by my friends who studied aerospace engineering that often, when government secrecy is involved, the "what we're doing" isn't classified. The "who we're doing it for" or the "why we're doing it", however, is.

[Mateo]

N987SA. Checking my log, seen IAD 27Aug05, 15Jul06, and 17Feb07.

[Informant]

If you all want to see something really interesting, look up on google or any search engine past relations between the US and Columbia.Then go out to JFK to terminal 4 and look at who handles ground and cargo services for Columbias flag carrier. I guarantee you won't see Customs and Border Protection around those planes and if you do it will be a on a date that was agreed upon by the airline as well as Customs.

[PhilDernerJr]

I assume you're talking about Avianca. With that, I disgaree very much.

In fact, I've NEVER seen so many police consistently surround and guard a plane as much as they do to Avianca. Tehre are drug dogs on almost every flight and in addition, PAPD also keeps a close eye.

I have no idea what you're referring to otherwise.

[Matt Molnar]

I have no idea what you're referring to otherwise.

The drug dogs can't smell the zombies the Colombians are smuggling in to eat our brains. :(

[Informant]

When have you seen drug sniffing dogs around Aviancas aircraft? I,ll tell you that I have seen more customs activity around North Americans Gerorgetown flights than I will ever see at Avianca.
Phil look at the early morning arrivals watch how the cargo is seperated then watch where it goes.Like I posted before if there is activity it is planned ahead of time.

[Tom_Turner]

Poor Gary Webb is spinning in his grave......

[markg]

look at the early morning arrivals watch how the cargo is seperated then watch where it goes

Informant, you seem to come up with conspiracy theories a lot, but leave us all hanging by a thread. Why don't you just tell us the whole story instead of pretending to be some kind of CIA insider??

[Informant]

Im no CIA operative, but just so you know where im coming from.I have almost five years experience with Air Force intelligence, 2 years as a security consultant with the US Security service, and another 2 years flying for various foreign govermental departments/agencies/offices. Also for a a short time I ran my own security company at JFK.

I can't say exactly what happens with this airline but from what I do know unlike other carriers this one finds the most loopholes through TSA and CBP checks. For example, their maintenance department very rerely submits parts or materials for inspection by the TSA even though it is clearly stated that any materials being shipped by a maintenance department are to be inspected, regardless of whether or not the airline feels it is unnecessary.Without these checks there is no reliable record for us here in the states to see how many items have gone through their system, and with that there is no telling whata is being shipped try calling TSA or CBP as a concerned party and they will tell you that they are on top of things.

[adam613]

Sounds like someone's been watching a little too much TV...

[Informant]

Ah yes, Informant has the crazies!

Well how's this for too much TV, making up stories, and having some super secret in with the CIA.
Getting back on topic here, does anyone know where the company that handled these charter flights, just opened an office?

[Matt Molnar]

Getting back on topic here, does anyone know where the company that handled these charter flights, just opened an office?

7 World Trade Center?

[Informant]

Actually its FRG.