Solving The Case of F-BPJK

Real World Aviation
#1

Hello, IFC!

Before I begin, this post was moderator approved.

This topic is to (hopefully) solve or at least try to solve an aviation mystery that very few have heard of.

F-BPJK, an Air France 727-200 was found at LFLP airport, surrounded by overgrown weeds and abandoned for some time. Inside, seats and overhead bins were broken, and blood was found splattered on the walls and ground. Blood was also found in the cockpit, which was stripped bare.

After doing some digging myself, I found some pictures that I will post below as well as a few topics on other forums that discussed this but with no definite conclusions. Some theories are:

Rapid Decompression
Hijack
Bomb/bombing attempt

What we know:

Registration: F-BPJK
Aircraft: 727-228
Airline: Air France
Age: 52 years
Serial #: 20202
Location: LFLP
Yes, it has flown before

Some things to know/consider:

Aircraft was hidden from google maps and made invisible at the airport when too many people started looking into it.

Air France tried to cover up the case, claiming that it was a decompression, and then stripping, repainting and hiding the aircraft.

I was able to find no survivors/witnesses/articles online.

Now for the data:

Please note the pictures contain blood and evidence of trauma so do not click if you are squeamish/have PTSD.

F-BPJK | Boeing 727-228 | 20202 | JetPhotos

F-BPJK | Boeing 727-228 | Air France | William Ronciere | JetPhotos

F-BPJK | Boeing 727-228 | Air France | William Ronciere | JetPhotos

F-BPJK | Boeing 727-228 | Air France | William Ronciere | JetPhotos

F-BPJK | Boeing 727-228 | Air France | William Ronciere | JetPhotos

F-BPJK | Boeing 727-228 | Air France | William Ronciere | JetPhotos

Some possibly useful links (although they don’t lead to conclusions)

What Really Happened To F-BPJK - The Facts - Airliners.net

F-BPJK: Blood in the cabin! What the hell happened here? - JetPhotos Forums - The Friendly Way to Fly

here is where it seems to have rested but was then removed sometime between October 2003 and early 2004.

60 Rue de l’Aérodrome - Google Maps

If you want to investigate and find out what happened here, then go ahead, you would be the first. If you have any questions, ask ahead. This is a solving thread so if you find any useful/helpful information, post it here, and I will regularly update the OP. Please do not post speculation/guesses if there is no evidence or proof of what you are stating.

Current analysis:

F-BPJK was painted white as it was scheduled for retirement. Shortly before it’s retirement flight, it suffered a decompression above the alps. It made an emergency landing at Annecy, and being deemed unable to fly again, it was grounded and locked at a remote area of the airport, with the rear stairs left open for some reason. This is when some vandals/criminals came and splattered human blood and broke/stole everything in the cabin and cockpit, making it the current bloody mess until it was removed in early 2004 to be scrapped.

Some may jump to conclusions saying that it was a decompression but many loopholes can be found (ex. why is the blood still red instead of oxidixing and turning brown?)
This topic was moderator approved and should be fun, so let’s stay civil and not ruin the joy this time :)

Have fun, stay safe, stay civil and let’s try to solve this case!

Thank you!

Robertine

43 Likes
#2

Can say I am particularly interested in this, one thing I do love is unsolved mysteries, be it about things like D.B Cooper or anything else. I’ll guess that it was removed at some point between late 2003 and late 2004, the range in satellite imagery in Google Earth didn’t allow me to look further which is a shame. Even more uncertain is where it went, which I can only assume that it was likely taken for scrapping.

11 Likes
#3

The last picture I could find of it there was from October 6th 2003 which makes sense with your analysis. I’m going to add that there

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#4

What an interesting case. Unsolved cases are for sure something to discuss, especially when it involves aviation. :)

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#5

Thank you!

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#6

Honestly as much as it is disappointing to say it’s probably nothing…

If it was a Soviet era Aeroflot jet I could see the possibility of a cover up but France has no reason to, or any evidence that they have in the past, covered up any Air France incidents so I don’t think it’s the spectacular answer we all want to discover 🤷‍♂️

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#7

This is some decent timing for a “Permanent Vacation” Mystery

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#8

I was thinking so as well in terms of some theories like that of a hijacking. That would very easily be publicized especially if it was politically motivated by the hijacker; I see no feasible way of it being covered up, especially during the 90’s where doing so would be even more difficult. Why it was being quietly hidden from us with the silence from Air France’s side of things, as well as the other random pieces of evidence that points us in different directions (i.e the red stuff on the wall, if it isn’t blood and other pieces of damage) still need to be accounted for I will say.

I personally have no clue in which to what actually happened to it, because there are holes in most conclusions you could make, which I’ll try to compare when I bother.

2 Likes
#9

This reminds me of the green peace episode with one of their 77Ws a few months ago.
Here is my theory: F-BPJK was at the LFLP airport for a prolonged period of time - the 727 type was retired in 1992 from Air France, and (since the airline economy wasn’t doing all that well), Air France just decided to put it in (perhaps slightly illegal and unauthorized) storage at the airport. As we all know, airport security wasn’t the best at the time, so it is very possible that some vandals entered the aircraft, and decided it would be sickly funny if they made it look like a crime scene - while others just decided to rob the airline of their property. Since it would be a conflict of interest if it came out that this occurred under a what-is-supposed-to-be-secure place, Air France decided to put the blame on a depressurization/scrap situation. That would explain the bins/seats being removed, the vandalism, and the coverups by Google/Air France.
That is my theory, obviously it can get more refined, but that is my basic idea. If any fellow sleuth has some feedback, Id love to hear it!!

3 Likes
#10

I’m not sure whether Google intentionally was covering up the scene itself. Considering that there is practically no evidence of the aircraft remaining after 2003 (Google never had satellite data of the area until 2004, where the aircraft is nowhere to be seen). Besides, the means of coverup is certainly not how Google usually does this to cover up satellite data, (usually this is just done using sloppy pixelation, i.e done in France’s military airports for national security reasons). Making it invisible at this level of realism does not make sense in my eyes.

image

  • Earliest satellite image from Google Earth, circa. 2004
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#11

I agree with you. I think that explains the graffiti on outside the plane.

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#12

That’s a really interesting piece of evidence. I do have a question: you mentioned that Google didn’t have satellite imagery of the area until 2004. But in the OP, it was mentioned that the:

So just to clarify, Google didn’t have any satellite imagery of the area until 2004?

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#13

None that is archived at least: image

Either way, there is not much you can really do with Google’s imagery to investigate anyway, it’s quite useless, so I don’t see any reason for Google to need to remove it in the first place.

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#14

Ah, got it. Thanks for the clarification!

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#15

Just seen the pic. It’s a mess.

My intent was to come back here and tell yall that’s not blood, but when I glanced up to the top of the page… somehow the advertisement algorithm picked up on the pics I’m seeing and offered me fresh steak at discount price - with a big picture of raw, bleeding, juicy cut meat 🥩 smack dab in the middle.

And now, it’s my convictions against an A.I.

Coincidence?

I don’t think so…!🤔

5 Likes
#16

I was not only talking about the maps, but also the google search results. It seems that nothing has been visible since late 2003.

When people started looking into it, in late 2003, threads started emerging about what happened, and people contacted air france regarding the incident. In October 2003, someone states having called Air France and gotten the answer “what incident”?

Then, nothing. Last pictures? From 2003. When was the plane moved? Late 2003. Last threads? 2003.

I think AF moved the plane and covered up once people started looking into it, for fear of people finding out.

1 Like
#17

However, tests proved that it was real human blood. I’m not proving you wrong but wouldn’t that be next level for just making it look like a crime scene?

#18

Everyone I forgot to clarify but the blood was proven to be real, human blood.

2 Likes
#19

That changes the entire scope of our investigation considering this

If it’s real human blood then maybe a murder took place in those ruins as recently as those pictures…
Hundreds of possibilities at this point but I’m loving the mystery all the same

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#20

Another possibility I’m considering is that the blood came from when there was a depressurisation, and dried while there was no oxygen in the cabin, thus staying red (since there was no oxygen in the cabin at the time it came out)