Comco is the '' de facto'' name of an American company operating two

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

aircraft.

Overview

Little is known about the exact nature of their operation, but the aircraft are believed to operate on behalf of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

. There is speculation they are occasionally repainted to display military serial numbers instead of the customary civilian registration code. They are often confused with the similarly secretive and sparsely marked Boeing C-32B Gatekeeper aircraft, modified 757s operated by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft are painted white, and have either the word ''COMCO'' on the tail or stylized blue sweeps on the tail, fuselage, and engine

cowling A cowling (or cowl) is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings ...

. The Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) registry lists the owner of the aircraft as L-3 Capital, assumed to be a subsidiary of defense contractor

L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies, Inc. is an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology service (economics), services provider that produces products for command and control systems, wireless equipment, tactical radios, avi ...

. When parked and unused, the aircraft have padlocks which seal each of the exits, a highly unusual modification for an aircraft of its type and size.

Fleet

As of June 2019, Comco operates 2 Boeing 757-200s, which both aircraft are operating in the defense segment of L3Harris. Both aircraft are powered by the Rolls-Royce RB-211. Until 2016, the planes used by Comco only had a black Comco lettering on the

vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

, with a partial black cheatline forward of the wing and "Boeing 757" in small lettering beneath the aft windows. In 2017, the lettering was replaced by small navy and teal

swoosh The Swoosh is the logo of American sportswear designer and retailer Nike. Today, it has become one of the most recognizable brand logos in the world, and the most valuable, having a worth of $26 billion alone. Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight fou ...

graphics, and the Rolls-Royce logos on the engine nacelles were removed.

Incidents

In 2003, a Comco aircraft, registration N610G, was forced to land after being intercepted by aircraft from the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

after it strayed into Indian airspace on a flight from

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Malé Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...

. The flight was permitted to continue after the crew were interviewed by authorities.

References

External links

JetPhotos.com – Photos taken of Comco aircraft
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Airlines established in 2002 Airlines based in Montana American companies established in 2002 Boeing aircraft Military airlines