Ms. Mali is a mid-size, narrow body, three engine, T-tailed commercial jetliner, manufactured by Boeing in 1967. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and, for over a decade, it was the most produced commercial jet airliner in the world.

The Boeing 727 was a three engine jetliner developed by Boeing for use at smaller airports that were unable to accommodate the Boeing 707. The 727 quickly became a mainstay for passenger service, and small charter flight companies. Because the plane was designed to fly to airports with little ground support, the 727 includes built in air stairs. These stairs made 727s popular with the CIA who used them to drop agents and smuggled drugs on foreign countries while pretending to be airliners just flying over foreign airspace in route to their destination. In fact, the 727 here at the Kansas Aviation Museum was briefly owned by the CIA, undoubtedly for this purpose. This same technique was used by the legendary hijacker D.B. Cooper in 1971. The success of Cooper and various copycat hijackers prompted a switch called a “Cooper Vane” to be added that prevents the stair from opening in flight.

This 727 was last owned by FedEx, and is still outfitted as a cargo plane.