A private US surveillance airplane has been missing in Angola since 16 July, according to a report by Voice of America (VOA) on Friday. A spokesperson for the Florida-based firm Airscan was quoted by VOA as saying that one of its twin-engine Cessna 337s went missing on a night-time surveillance mission near Soyo, in the northwest. The two crew members are US-trained Angolan contract employees. Airscan has been providing security for the oil industry in Angola since 1993. It has provided similar services worldwide, including for the US military in the Balkans.
On Saturday, the state news agency ANGOP quoted a communiqué from the Angolan army denying reports in the independent media that the plane had been shot down. The document said that the military in Soyo had been informed by Airscan on the same day that the aircraft went missing and they made available two helicopters. The reportedly started a search and rescue mission, but were withdrawn after four days after finding no sign of the missing plane.
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