El Paso Matters – Some assembly required: Abandoned 1966 Boeing 727 sold at auction finds new home – in pieces

On an acre lot in far East Montana, parts of a 1966 Boeing 727 lay scattered – its fuselage split into two, tires and landing gear on their side, riveted sheets of aluminum placed haphazardly throughout.

It took about five months to dismantle and transport the abandoned, gutted plane – estimated to weigh 70,000 pounds – from El Paso International Airport hangars 14 miles to the plot of land owned by the Lara brothers.

“It’s like having a toy airplane you have to put together, but with a lot more sweat, energy and money,” Ismael Lara joked as he stood amid what looked like wreckage. 

In that wreckage lies a possibility – and a dream: To piece together the aircraft that was once used to transport prisoners into an attraction and venue for special events.

“I want to call it an experience,” Lara said, rattling off event space rentals, farmers markets, food truck park and educational tour ideas to convert the inoperable plane into something useful. “I know right now it looks like a junkyard, but eventually it’ll be an attraction.”

Ismael and his brother John paid $10,000 for the hunk of metal at an online government surplus auction in January. It was previously owned by the U.S. Marshals Service and by an area pilot who died in an airplane crash in another aircraft he was piloting in 2015. The plane was left abandoned at the El Paso airport, with the city eventually taking ownership of it.

It took the Laras more than $100,000 to dismantle and transport it and another $10,000 to dispose of more than 600 gallons of fuel drained from the plane. It took five trips on heavy-duty flatbed trailers to transport the larger airplane pieces from the airport to East Montana – some requiring oversize load permits from the state.

Now, they’ll spend several thousand dollars more to put together a rebar and concrete base strong enough to safely sustain the plane’s body off the ground. That in itself is a big task: Ismael Lara is having to dig holes at least 10 feet into the soft red sand to build pillars and ensure the 727 is stable.

“I’m learning all kinds of stuff,” said Lara, an educational consultant who contracts with area schools and agencies to create science, technology, engineering and math curricula, video tutoring programs and the like. “Digging holes is not fun, but it gets me closer to what I want to do.”

Ismael and his brother, an assistant principal in the Ysleta Independent School District, also run a science, engineering and math training and workshop website for parents and educators.

Aside from their day jobs and side hustles, the brothers took out a loan to help pay for their project. They’ve also made some side money by selling aluminum, copper and other metals from the plane they won’t need to rebuild it.

They’re considering using a crowdfunding platform to raise money for it once they’ve finalized their concept and are further along in reconstructing it, Ismael Lara said. 

For now, he’s putting in countless hours of sweat equity.

“I don’t like cars, I don’t care for big houses. I like land and big hands-on projects and seeing what I can do with them,” said Lara, who has previously refurbished and sold salvage furniture, gym lockers and even a school bus. “I do hope when we finish that some people get inspired to do their thing even if it seems impossible.”

The city’s director of aviation, J. Antonio Nevarez, said that while the abandoned 727 was not the most memorable situation he’s had to deal with at the airport, it is among the most unusual. Nevarez said the Laras weren’t assessed any storage fees after purchasing the plane, but did pay for airport badges and parking fees. No specific costs were released.

“Certainly, it was an unusual experience due to its time on the airfield,” he said via email. “It’s been here before me and most of the team.”

Nevarez said airport staff referred to the plane as “seven-two,” and hoped that it might become a coffee shop or small diner. 

Asked if the plane was missed, he responded, “NO” – in all caps.

Now with the plane gone, the space will be available for more general aviation parking, Nevarez said, adding that the city wants to “support our general aviation community as much as possible.”

But will the airport have any more planes or similarly large items up for auction soon?

“Yes,” Nevarez said. “We can’t give details yet.”

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