El Paso brothers bought a broken-down 727 for $10k

The Boeing 727 that had been long abandoned at El Paso International Airport has lost its wings. And its engines, its tail and its nose.

“I know it looks like a scrap yard,” Ismael Lara said, pointing at parts of the airplane scattered around the hangar where he and a small crew of workers are dismantling the metal bird to transport it to its new home. “It’ll be put back together and this area cleaned up.”

Over the last few weeks, workers have put the airplane on lift jacks and hauled in cranes and other heavy equipment to detach its engines, remove its wings, and disassemble its nose cone. And, they’ve painstakingly learned the engineering behind the 1966 aircraft is more complex than unscrewing bolts and screws off metal panels.

Ismael Lara has, to date, spent thousands of dollars and two months reducing his Boeing 727 plane to parts, May 23, 2025. The plane is being taken apart to move to Lara’s property, where he wants to make it into something the El Paso community can enjoy. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

“We’re learning as we go,” said Lara, who with his brother John Lara bought the inoperable aircraft in January through an online government surplus auction. They had hopes of giving it new life at a property they own on the Far Eastside, though they didn’t have a specific plan in place.

The brothers paid $10,000 for the mid-size, three-engine jet airliner that had sat idle at the airport for nearly 20 years before the city put it up for auction.

The plane had been mostly gutted, missing its seats and other major internal components. It had been deemed “not airworthy” and in “derelict condition.”

The plane was previously registered to Blue Falcon Corp., whose president, David Paul Tokoph, died from his injuries after another plane he was piloting crashed just outside the Las Cruces airport in 2015. Before that, the plane belonged to the U.S. Marshals Service and was used to transport prisoners.

Workers take apart a 1966 Boeing 727 at the El Paso International Airport. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Scaffolded supports stabilize an inoperable Boeing airplane .
(Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

On Friday morning, an area of the hangar appeared like a scene out of “Con Air,” the 1997 Nicolas Cage action movie about the transport of notorious criminals who begin their escape mid-flight and crash land the plane.

A wing here, an engine there. The fuselage sat on lift jacks, which in turn raised the rear staircase off the ground, leaving it floating mid-air. 

Crews disassemble the nose cone off a Boeing 727 abandoned at the El Paso International Airport and sold at auction to two El Paso brothers. (Courtesy Ismael Lara)

The cockpit and other parts have been moved to Lara’s East Montana property. He donated parts to a trade school in Ohio. 

Does he ever ask himself, “What have I done?”

“From day one,” he admits. 

He listed a slew of challenges he’s faced, including having to call hazardous materials crews out to ensure all the fuel, oil and coolant were cleared and needing to take out permits from the Texas Department of Transportation to tow large parts of the plane down Montana Avenue to his property.

He credits Sol Contractors of El Paso for stepping up to help at a more manageable cost than dozens of other companies he reached out to.

“We’re putting in a lot of work to get it done,” Lara said.

Lara wouldn’t say how much he’s spent so far or what the total move might add up to, saying he’s focused on getting the plane out of airport property. He says airport personnel have been graceful and patient, but knows he may be billed for the time he’s kept the plane at the hangar since buying it.

Airport officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.

An educator and self-proclaimed entrepreneur, Lara said he’s worked with salvage materials before – buying, refurbishing and selling everything from gym lockers to school buses. But this is his biggest purchase and his biggest challenge.

“I love to look at a problem and try to solve it myself,” he said. “But this, I couldn’t do alone. It’s been a life lesson.”

Lara said he regrets that not everyone in his family has been supportive of his “crazy idea” or of the potential he sees in what some consider nothing more than scrap metal.

“It could be so many things, especially something educational and unique,” he said.

He’s not sure what the 727 will become. Perhaps he’ll build a food truck park around it. Maybe it’ll be a unique party venue. It could be a static science, technology, engineering and math attraction for children. But he doesn’t want to venture into the restaurant or bar business – popular suggestions by strangers and friends alike.

Brothers Ismael Lara, left, and Frank Lara brainstorm ideas of what to do with the plane that Ismael bought with their other brother, John, May 23, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

“My brother is very creative and very hardworking so he’s been really focused on getting this done,” said Ismael’s other brother, Frank Lara, a videographer who last week started filming the plane’s dismantling.

He plans to make a documentary about the process.

Ismael is considering documenting his journey on social media.

“So, I bought a plane,” he says might be his video introduction. His journey might not be as relatable as renovating a home, he said, and he’s not sure people would follow his journey without some kind of lesson or message.

“What would I say?” he asks. “Don’t buy a plane?”