So what aircraft can do a half tonne of P, and where from?

[Charl]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8110055 ... and-waters

[Ian Warren]

A CASA CN-235 would be ideal for the drop and in the price range ... Frankly they have four drug criminals ... DEATH PENALTY ! without much said , look at the amount of misery the crap causes even cooking the stuff , No excuses here , they knew what they had and what they were doing .

[Charl]

The whole story is a comedy of errors, so I was thinking more of the bottom end of the twin turbo market, slightly overloaded perhaps as these things tend to be, and operating at the far end of the range.
Which means that it would have to land and refuel that night, in NZ.
If clowns like this are doing it, what are the pros up to?

[Ian Warren]

Another thought that come to mind , wonder if one off crime's was trying to rip off a case burying it in the sand ? for themselves !

[Charl]

$50mil... who wouldn't be tempted.
In fact "leakage" is the biggest problem in drug enforcement.

Thinking this through: 90 Mile Beach is on the Left Hand Side so they came from OZ.
Obvious choice is Illawarra Regional, plenty of well-heeled twin turbos hang out there.
You'd want something pretty cheap, but not too cheap, for this job.
It's 1100nm or so, and with the help of this fantastic resource I whittled the list down to:
Piaggio P166
Airbus C212
Antonov AN-140
AAC Angel
King Air C90
Cessna 402
Custer CCW-5
Embraer EMB 110
Fokker 50
Handley Page S200

I pick the Cessna 402 because I think I saw a movie once, where one of these was used by the heroin smugglers. It looks the part, anyway.
Case closed.

[Ian Warren]

That is the reason for the CN235 .. only half a ton drug and the rest a fuel bladder for the range .. and very predominate in the region around the Northern South Pacific ... course open rear door , makes it so much easier.

[Naki]

Only problem is that a 402 isn't a turboprop.

[Naki]

Never knew what a Custer was. Looked it up ....it was some obscure aircraft from the 50s that never went into production.

[Ian Warren]

Never knew what a Custer was.

Won't matter .. just need a weapon system to shoot what ever it is, shoot it down before it gets here !

[Lindstrim]

There's a few spare 1900's in HLZ that could

[Ian Warren]

There's a few spare 1900's in HLZ that could

There we go .. that's the Idea , I can rebuild a 1900 into a weapon system ..... BUGGER ... the Crooks access to all these weapons ... BUT SIMPLE JOE PROTECTOR is left with a cell phone to throw at em ....

[SUBS17]

It could just as easily been dropped off by a container or bulk ship also most likely approach would be from South America since that's where they normally come from.

[Charl]

Only problem is that a 402 isn't a turboprop.

Oops a Conquest, then.

Never knew what a Custer was.

Just shows when you blindly copy a list from the Interwebby Thing...

There's a few spare 1900's in HLZ that could

Mmm possible... you'd want not to attract undue attention. Actually I am leaning to the King Air now.
What's the chances you could fly one in to Kataia and ask for a bit of gas, without anyone raising a fuss?

True, the CASA could go there and back on one tank.
But it's an unusual aircraft, surely someone would ask a question of this thing, flying to 90 Mile Beach and then straight back to Oz with no flight plan??

[Ian Warren]

What ever aircraft , I'm going to interested to see what these four caught at the moment get, seeing a few articles about how dangerous this stuff is and it lethal affects .... there is no mistake about the crime or who is involved , they are caught red handed! So ....

[Charl]

Methamphetamine is surely the most potent threat facing our society.
I would like to see a special facility built for apprehended suppliers and dealers, perhaps on an island, where they do not mix with any other inmates, and they never ever return.
You can - never - legalise this drug as it is 100% addictive, and has the most awful consequences.
It's a war, and the locals up north showed how you win it.
Good on them.
And good on the Crown to allow confiscation of their money when caught.

Err but wait, this was all about an aeroplane...

[Ian Warren]

Err but wait, this was all about an aeroplane...

Was it an aeroplane tho ... it could have been a real UFO ... not hard to get side tracked when the cargo is half a ton of deadly material ... I think outside the consequences and the possibles, I wonder how many of these operations have happened or was this the first ... aeroplanes , CASA .. had one parked at Christchurch with a Spanish rego on it , this was the late 1980s when MC was looking for a 748 replacement.

They aren't so outta place in this region and second hand throw away from no FAA/CAA rule machine, fly from the back yard ...

[Lindstrim]

Only problem is that a 402 isn't a turboprop.

Oops a Conquest, then.

Never knew what a Custer was.

Just shows when you blindly copy a list from the Interwebby Thing...

There's a few spare 1900's in HLZ that could

Mmm possible... you'd want not to attract undue attention. Actually I am leaning to the King Air now.
What's the chances you could fly one in to Kataia and ask for a bit of gas, without anyone raising a fuss?

True, the CASA could go there and back on one tank.
But it's an unusual aircraft, surely someone would ask a question of this thing, flying to 90 Mile Beach and then straight back to Oz with no flight plan??

There's no Jet A1 or even Avgas in KAT. When flying in there you always had to tanker it so you get back to AKL

[Charl]

That's makes the case more interesting...
Where's the nearest refuel then, for a 90 Mile Beach Dropoff?

[Ian Warren]

That's makes the case more interesting...
Where's the nearest refuel then, for a 90 Mile Beach Dropoff?

The one thing had it been a container ... recall the Muck left behind after the 'RENA' wreck .. you would want a controlled drop .. what is the Norfolk Is security like ? .. that would be a ideal fuel stop but again a 'YAWN security' maybe .. I don't know .. maybe it was just a fishing boat drop and the plane heard just a ruse ?

[Lindstrim]

That's makes the case more interesting...
Where's the nearest refuel then, for a 90 Mile Beach Dropoff?

KKE would be the closest airfield with the appropriate facilities.

One point about the aircraft theory is that supposedly all the lights were on, now I'm not the smartest person out there but generally if you want to be undetected then turning them off would have been a good start?

Further to this there has been an RAAF C-27 operating around NZ but I've read that it has been grounded in CHC for some reason and I'm not 100% sure of the dates involved in this drop off?