The Atlanta Ebola Plane

Preface

Okay...this has held my interest, and I've posted bits and pieces in various threads and have had a few requests/suggestions to start a new thread about it...the plane that transported the patients from Liberia to Atlanta.

I spoke to a pilot friend who said (I hope I get this right) it is likely they refueled somewhere before Maine on the return trip. So I dug into it a little more and am hoping that others here may find/know more than I do. So here it is.

originally posted by: [post=18244828]~Lucidity with a few additions...

PhoenixAir, Cartersville, Georgia USA

Phoenix Air Group, Inc. known worldwide as Phoenix Air is a U.S. certificated air carrier based in Cartersville, Georgia, USA serving a wide range of clients by providing a wide range of aviation services. Welcome to our web site. In the pages that follow, you will be guided through Phoenix Air’s varied capabilities – from air charter to air ambulance to air cargo to military training... capabilities that have made Phoenix Air one of the most trusted names in the aviation industry. Home Page

One of their specialties is air ambulances, but they appear to do a lot of "military" work too. phoenixair.com...

At first we were told that Samaritan's Purse contracted with the company on their own. Then the military connections started to appear. And the government connections. Landing at a military reserve base was a big clue.

Multi Patient VIP

One of the pilots also was the company's chief lawyer.
"I volunteered to fly," said Randall Davis, vice president and general counsel of Phoenix Air Group Inc., after he was back at his desk, covered in contracts for future trips for the company.

Davis flew with a team of pilots on the second of the two missions to bring back a nurse who had worked with the doctor. The pair had worked in Africa as a team through a North Carolina-based mission group. "These are selfless people," said Davis. "We're just hoping for their recovery. We're also hoping for Emory and the CDC that they're able to research this disease so that it can be eradicated someday. That's never going to happen unless you get them to a facility like they are now."

Phoenix Air Group is a special missions company, said Davis. "Sometimes the missions are medical, sometimes exotic animals or artwork. Some are special people."

Read more: www.dailyreportonline.com...=1202666106682/GeorgiaBased-Phoenix-Air-GC-Flew-to-Liberia-on-Ebola-Rescue-Mission#ixzz39kx0UaYi

The Plane
Here's a pretty damn interesting article about the plane used.

This Amazing Jet Will Transport Ebola Victims From Africa To The U.S.

The jet initially took off on its mission Thursday at 2:03pm EST, but turned back after only 2 hours and 14 minutes of what should have been a six and a half hour flight to the Azores for a refueling stop. Then, at 5:08PM EST, Phoenix Air flight 333, under the callsign "Gray Bird" made its way to the Azores once again.

Reportedly, it was also Royal Danish military plane.

The Route

So, anyway, the official route was from Cartersville, Georgia USA, to Liberia (I'm assuming Monrovia, but haven't really seen that in "writing" or heard it...maybe someone else has?)

Then the plane flew back from Liberia to Bangor, Maine, USA, and then on to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, USA.

Reportedly it then went back to its home base in Cartersville, Georgia, USA, for decontaminatin and preparation for the second flight. The second flight allegedly followed the same path as the first. I think I got that right. From what we were told, of course.

The stop in Maine threw everyone it seemed for a loop. First they speculated it was for "customs" and then started saying it was for refueling. Who knows...maybe it was both. Who knows what they could have smuggled in under all that sheeting and wrap, and for sure they needed fuel by then anyway (maybe for the second time).

Anyway, other places might have been closer than Maine and just as well equipped. At least for refueling, if not the customs part.

This plane, again a GIII, has a range of 5,070 miles (4,410 nautical miles) with maximum fuel and reserves, but when flying at its top cruise speed, can go 3,330 miles (2,900 nautical miles) nonstop.

Distance is 8107 kilometers or 5038 miles or 4378 nautical miles from Liberia to Atlanta.

However, the distance from Libera to Maine? That's 7079 kilometers or 4399 miles or 3822 nautical miles.

So I guess it makes sense it had to stop to refuel in Maine? No. It probably makes more sense for it to have stopped somewhere else along the way, someone they are not publicizing, maybe for any number of reasons? It doesn't make sense for it to have traveled with a viral disease onboard and cut it that close to it's range capacity from Liberia to either Atlanta or Bangor.

Maybe it has bigger fuel tanks than the specs...I dunno enough about planes to know if this is even possible. Doesn't sound like it is.

Aside from all this, doesn't it look to you as if it can fit two patients? So why did they bring them one at a time?




Other Oddities
So what's up with the Azores thing?

The tail number N173PA is registered to N173PA LLC, WILMINGTON, DE (Corporation), not Phoenix Air. The plane is its own LLC?


The plane made a round-trip flight on Thursday , July 31 to Delaware. It show it at the same time starting to make a trip to the Azores, specifically to Lajes Air Base, but it then diverted, if I'm reading this right.


The last records I can find are from that date...I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

The World's 18 Strangest Military Bases

See page 14...right in there with Detrick.

Lajes honors Biomedical Sciences Corps

That's all...I have time for for now. I'm working on a map, too.

ETA....

O ther places plane has been...

Maps





Thoughts? Additions? Anything else you may have spotted on this topic?

Phoenix Air does target towing as well as ECM work for the military. They're a pretty big company that flies several Gulfstream types as well as several types of LearJet.

As for the patients there are several reasons to fly them one at a time.

It reduces the workload of the people monitoring them, which makes them less likely to make a mistake. If they're trying to treat them both and something happens to one and they start to rush, they could make a bad mistake.

More importantly, two patients means two transport beds, which means more weight. More weight, especially somewhere like Africa means less fuel, which means less cushion.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Ahh....the fuel thing makes sense as it seems they were cutting it close to either destination...Atlanta or Bangor.

What you say about two at a time makes some sense too. It was more risky doing it twice, in my opinion, but there could have been other circumstances, such as the second one of them not being well enough to fly at the time the first was.

Thanks, Zaphod.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

The hotter the environment, the less weight in either cargo or fuel you can carry because the engines aren't as efficient in hot air. Especially older engines like these are. Regardless of what they're carrying, pilots will take fuel over cargo any day of the week.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Interesting. That makes more sense then. If there were two patients they might have needed more personnel to care for them, more weight....

So, could a plane like this, if this age (I think built in 1999?) be refitted to carry more fuel or additional tanks? Ot is that a non-starter?

a reply to: ~Lucidity

It could, but they'd have to go in the cabin, which would limit their medical supplies.

I copied and pasted this, but I can't remember where I found it:

N173PA (GLF3) has just filed a flight plan. It is scheduled to depart from Cartersville (KVPC) at 11:15PM EDT Saturday heading for Lajes Air Base Int. (LPLA/TER) for an estimated arrival at 10:14AM AZOST.

Expected route: EAONE SPA PSK J53 ASBUR J42 BOS J575 YHZ 05000W 04000W H125

Also wanted to add these links but I'm out of room (I never ran out of room before!)

www.flightradar24.com...
www.flightradar24.com...

ETA:
I also read somewhere along the way that Maine is used by a lot of people coming back from military and other "missions." Can't find it now and it was probably just a comment.

You would think security would be key and it seemed to be...until they took them from Dobbins via ambulance and broadcasted the route for days.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

So, I have been thinking that maybe they made the stop in Bangor (even though frankly, it didn't save them THAT many nautical miles in the grand scheme) because perhaps they were not allowed to stop and refuel anywhere else. Is it possible that they were denied entry to fuel up in another country due to the hazard on board? That's one thought.

My other is, if that wasn't the case, why Maine. If as some of us suspect the whole transport to Emory was for show, and Brantley/Whitebol were transported more covertly / to some other location, did they remove them at that location and transport them elsewhere? Is there something about that location that makes a more covert transport easier?

Again, all speculative, but this is great research on the plane, its capabilities, and the actual flights.

a reply to: NEB0168

Maine is a common stop coming back from the Europe/Africa region. They have to fly up around Iceland/Greenland, and drop back down into the US. Maine is the first place in the US they can land. So they land there, fuel, and clear Customs at the same time.

a reply to: NEB0168
Thanks. I had a bit of help, and my friends are sort of sick of me babbling about this so I thought I'd get as much down as has been on my mind about this.

Perhaps either other countries didn't allow them to stop there or simply didn't want it known. But could they hide that on a flight plan? I don't know...I guess it depends who was helping them. I don't know enough about how spy and secret and drug planes avoid radar and filing flight plans and the like to know.

I totally agree about the route. Bangor is pretty secure and there's not a lot of traffic either. And the security theory would hold if the media didn't broadcast the route.

But here again is my personal theory, as you posed too, is that it wasn't them at all on that route in Atlanta. They were either taken elsewhere or at the very least not transported by the route and method the media showed us.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ah, thank you for the info, I was not aware of that. I certainly find the transport facts interesting and important.

a reply to: Zaphod58

So they land there, fuel, and clear Customs at the same time.

Ebola, cleared for entry into the continent of the United States.

Thats now customary, I presume.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

I'm wondering how one might go about actually gaining some shreds of evidence pointing toward your personal theory, and mine. Probably pretty impossible - but as a long time lurker in ATS I know that there are ways to begin to piece together a story.

What about the family? I believe Brantley's wife spoke to the media. I know we don't like to go down the family rabbit hole on ATS because then we get into "is it fair to drag families into speculation"... but would there be any clues in their statements that might lead one toward speculating Brantley is at another location?

I dunno, I'm such a n00b at gathering research on my speculation... which is why I love to lurk around here until someone digs out the proof I was hoping for and then I hoot and holler as if I found it myself

I need to research the U.S. Customs thing. Surely there are exceptions to it. It would seem this would be a good one...for numerous reasons.

a reply to: NEB0168
All I recall hearing from his wife was a request for privacy. I remember my response (nice or not) being, well that horse has left the gate. Haven't really focused on that aspect.

As for the rest. I guess one just watches. And gathers and connects dots. First and foremost, is why did they broadcast the land route from Dobbins to Emory so fervently when the reality was that it was a security issue on a number of levels? Diversion is the first obvious answer. They do this a lot...plan several routes and keep an eye on things to see which is best at the time.

And then when they got back talk about it, they said because the BSL-4 rooms was 9 floors down from the helipad and it would be a longer path. People were also surprised at how little (visible) security there was for the first transport via the land route, so they said that for the second the FBI would be there.

But good questions. For all we know from what we're told they could have flown them anywhere (and the unannounced stop in Maine and possibly somewhere else to refuel) leaves that possibility wide open.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

For what it's worth, his wife's YouTube channel was an easy find. Doesn't seem to be much there aside from a lot of family videos. Maybe one of the more detective types can take a look.

www.youtube.com...

2 trips = 2x Profit is why it makes more sense to the company to justify it, as double occupancy in one flight, would not be cost effective for the company, as billing for doctors and emergency staff must have cost a small fortune alone, not to mention how much the flight itself cost, as my guess is SpaceX would have been less expensive and had room for some baggage and cargo!

a reply to: dojozen
Meh. There's always a niggling suspicion that everyone is in it for the profit in the end. I hate to think so, like to think there's still some real goodness in the human race, but it sure seems that way sometimes.

I don't think the interior of the plane you have pictured is the correct one. What we were showed on our local news was much smaller. Also, it definitely did go back to Cartersville in between flights, I know some people who live nearby and it was definitely there.

Google the tail number, you get several hits for its use for CIA rendition flights.

Eta: I forget if it was 11alive or WSB, but they said Samaritans purse hired/paid them for both flights but I swore it was the NIH that contacted them first and wanted them back?

Trying to find what I saw on an earlier broadcast....here's one from a different channel, it doesn't show the interior as much as the other one did but I still thought it was interesting.

www.myfoxatlanta.com...

Ok, I think this one is it.

www.wsbtv.com...