The idea of buying an entire plane just to destroy it might seem odd, but this kind of full-scale physical testing is an important part of exploring a commercial aircraft’s vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks. We don't know what ATC has in store for HZ-AKF specifically, but it is very likely so-called "Least Risk Bomb Location" (LRBL) testing.

These experiments are intended to determine the where the crew of an airliner can chuck a bomb if they find one and have the best chance of mitigating the explosion. Since 1972, the FAA has maintained established LRBL rules that aircraft makers can voluntarily submit to when they design an aircraft. There's no testing requirement, though, so DHS, with the help of the Army, routinely does it themselves to examine whether the specific features hold up.

Phillips Airfield at Aberdeen.

What appears to be a Boeing 757 parked at Phillips Airfield.

Aberdeen could easily use the aircraft for additional destructive testing, as well, and the data obtained from the LRBL experiments would likely be applicable more broadly. For nearly as long as there have been airplanes, there have been criminals and terrorists eager to hijack or sabotage them for various reasons. In 1933, in what is accepted as the first incident of its kind, a United Airlines Boeing 247 crashed after a bomb exploded on board. The case remains unsolved, but the prevailing theory it was a mob hit.

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