Air America (airline)

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Air America
Air America wings.svg
IATA ICAO Call sign
FA(1) [1] FA(1) [1] AIR AMERICA
Founded1946;78 years ago (1946)
Ceased operations1976;48 years ago (1976)
Hubs
Fleet size80+
Parent company American Airdale Corporation
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Notes
(1) IATA, ICAO codes were the same until the 1980s

Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline established in 1946 and covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1950 to 1976. It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, including allegedly providing support for drug smuggling in Laos. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early history: Civil Air Transport (CAT)

Air America Bell 205 helicopter leaving a Hmong fire support base in the Laotian Plain of Jars, c. 1969 Air-America--Bell-205-helicopter-at-Hmong-FSB.jpg
Air America Bell 205 helicopter leaving a Hmong fire support base in the Laotian Plain of Jars, c. 1969

CAT was created by Claire Chennault and Whiting Willauer in 1946 as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (CNRRA) Air Transport to airlift supplies and food into war-ravaged China. It was soon pressed into service to support Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang forces in the civil war between them and the communists under Mao Zedong. Many of its first pilots were veterans of Chennault's World War II combat groups, popularly known as Flying Tigers. By 1950, following the defeat of Chiang's forces and their retreat to Taiwan, the airline faced financial difficulties. In August 1950, the CIA bought out Chennault and Willauer, continuing to operate as CAT, until 1959, when it changed its name to Air America. [5]

Air America's slogan was "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Professionally". [6] : xix  Air America aircraft, including the Curtiss C-46 Commando, Pilatus PC-6 Porter, de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, and Fairchild C-123 Provider, along with UH-34D, Bell 204B, Bell 205, and Boeing CH-47C Chinook helicopters, flew many types of cargo to countries such as the Republic of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Laos, and Cambodia. It operated from bases in those countries and also from bases in Thailand and as far afield as Taiwan and Japan. It also on occasion flew top-secret missions into Burma and the People's Republic of China.

Operations during the Vietnam War

Air America U-10D Helio Courier aircraft in Laos on a covert mountaintop landing strip (LS) "Lima site" Helio U-10D Air America Laos 1970.jpg
Air America U-10D Helio Courier aircraft in Laos on a covert mountaintop landing strip (LS) "Lima site"

From 1959 to 1962 the airline provided direct and indirect support to US Special Forces "Ambidextrous", "Hotfoot", and "White Star", which trained the regular Royal Laotian armed forces. After 1962 a similar operation known as Project 404 fielded numerous US Army attachés (ARMA) and air attachés (AIRA) to the US embassy in Vientiane. [7]

From 1962 to 1975, Air America inserted and extracted US personnel, provided logistical support to the Royal Lao Army, the Hmong Army under command of Royal Lao Army Major General Vang Pao and combatant Thai volunteer forces, transported refugees, and flew photo reconnaissance missions that provided intelligence on Viet Cong activities. Its operations were some of the first launched by the U.S. as it became increasingly involved militarily in Southeast Asia. [8] Its civilian-marked craft were frequently used, under the control of the Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force, to launch search and rescue missions for US pilots downed throughout Southeast Asia. Air America pilots were the only known private US corporate employees to operate non-Federal Aviation Administration-certified military aircraft in a combat role. Dan Kurtz, originally from Michigan, now living in Tennessee, masterminded the civilian masquerade of commercial pilots that in reality were covert CIA operatives flying rescue and supply missions in the late '60s.

By mid-1970, the airline had two dozen twin-engine transport aircraft as well as Boeing 727 and Boeing 747 jets plus two dozen fixed wing short-take off-and-landing aircraft in addition to 30 helicopters dedicated to operations in Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. There were more than 300 pilots, copilots, flight mechanics, and airfreight specialists based in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. During 1970, Air America delivered 46 million pounds (21,000 metric tons) of food in Laos. Helicopter flight time reached more than 4,000 hours a month in the same year. [9] [6]

An Air America Pilatus PC-6 Porter Air America Pilatus PC-6 in flight.jpg
An Air America Pilatus PC-6 Porter

Air America flew civilians, diplomats, spies, refugees, commandos, sabotage teams, doctors, war casualties, drug enforcement officers, and even visiting VIPs like Richard Nixon all over Southeast Asia. Part of the CIA's support operations in Laos involved logistical support for Hmong militia fighting the North Vietnamese forces and their Pathet Lao allies. Thousands of tons of food were delivered via Air America routes, including live chickens, pigs, water buffalo, and cattle. On top of the food drops (known as "rice drops") came the logistical demands for the war itself, and Air America pilots flew thousands of flights transporting and air-dropping ammunition and weapons (referred to as "hard rice" [6] : 7 ) to friendly forces.

When the North Vietnamese Army overran South Vietnam in 1975, Air America helicopters participated in Operation Frequent Wind evacuating both US civilians and South Vietnamese people associated with the Saigon regime. [10] [11] The famous photograph depicting the final evacuation, by Dutch photographer Hubert van Es, was an Air America helicopter taking people from an apartment building at 22 Gia Long Street used by USAID and CIA employees. [12] [13]

Allegations of drug trafficking

Air America planes sometimes transported drugs during the Laotian Civil War, though there is debate about whether Air America and the CIA were actively involved or merely allowed others to transport drugs. During the war, the CIA recruited people from Meo (Hmong) population to fight the Pathet Lao rebels and their North Vietnamese allies. Because of the conflict, many Hmong depended upon poppy cultivation for money. According to Alfred W. McCoy, because the Plain of Jars had been captured by the Pathet Lao in 1964, the Laotian Air Force was no longer able to land C-47 transport aircraft on the Plain of Jars, which McCoy says transported opium. According to McCoy, as the Laotian Air Force had few light planes that could land on the dirt runways near the mountaintop poppy fields, Air America used as it was the only airline available in northern Laos. McCoy writes that "Air America began flying opium from mountain villages north and east of the Plain of Jars to Gen Vang Pao's headquarters at Long Tieng." [14]

Air America were alleged to have profited from transporting opium and heroin on behalf of Hmong leader Vang Pao, [15] [16] or of "turning a blind eye" to the Laotian military doing it. [2] [3] This allegation has been supported by former Laos CIA paramilitary Anthony Poshepny (aka Tony Poe), former Air America pilots, and other people involved in the war. It is portrayed in the movie Air America . However, University of Georgia aviation historian William M. Leary writes that Air America was not involved in the drug trade, citing Joseph Westermeyer, a physician and public health worker resident in Laos from 1965 to 1975, that "American-owned airlines never knowingly transported opium in or out of Laos, nor did their American pilots ever profit from its transport." [17] Aviation historian Curtis Peebles also denies that Air America employees were involved in opium transportation. [18]

Historian Alfred W. McCoy stated that:

In most cases, the CIA's role involved various forms of complicity, tolerance or studied ignorance about the trade, not any direct culpability in the actual trafficking ... The CIA did not handle heroin, but it did provide its drug lord allies with transport, arms, and political protection. [4]

After the war

After it pulled out of South Vietnam in 1975, there was an attempt to keep a company presence in Thailand. After this fell through, Air America was dissolved on June 30, 1976. Air Asia, the company that held all of the Air America assets, was later purchased by Evergreen International Airlines. [6] All proceeds, a sum between 20 and 25 million dollars, were returned to the US Treasury. The employees were released unceremoniously with no accolades and no benefits even for those who suffered long-term disabilities, nor death benefits for families of employees killed in action.

Such benefits as were afforded came from worker's compensation insurance required by contracts with the US Air Force that few knew about. The benefits were not awarded easily. Many disabled pilots were ultimately compensated under the federal Longshoremen's Act after lengthy battles with CIA bureaucrats who denied their connection to the airline for years. Many died of their injuries before they could be compensated adequately. Accident reports were said to have been falsified, redacted, and stonewalled by CIA officials who continued to deny any relationship to the events described in them.

Air America pilots have attempted to have their federal pensions enhanced. [19]

Fleet

During its existence Air America operated a diverse fleet of aircraft, the majority of which were STOL capable. [20] There was "fluidity" of aircraft between some companies such as Air America, Boun Oum Airways, Continental Air Services, Inc, and the United States Air Force. It was not uncommon for USAF and United States Army Aviation units to lend aircraft to Air America for specific missions. Air America tended to register its aircraft in Taiwan. They operated in Laos without the B- nationality prefix. US military aircraft were often used with the "last three" digits of the military serial as a civil marking. The first two transports of Air America arrived in Vientiane, Laos, on August 23, 1959. The Air America operations at Udorn, Thailand, were closed down on June 30, 1974. Air America's operating authority was cancelled by the CAB on January 31, 1974.

Fixed wing

Helicopters

Air Asia

Air Asia was a wholly owned subsidiary of Air America which provided technical, management, and equipment services for Civil Air Transport of Formosa. Air Asia was headquartered in Taipei and its main facilities were in Tainan, Taiwan. [23] It is now located in the Tainan Airport. It is the only surviving member of the Pacific Corporation, but currently[ timeframe? ] it is owned by Taiwan Aerospace Corporation and is no longer related to the Central Intelligence Agency.[ citation needed ]

1980s revival of name

In the 1980s, Los Angeles–based Total Air, [24] a passenger airline, revived the AirAmerica name. [25] This version of Air America operated Lockheed L-1011 TriStar wide body jetliners with scheduled passenger flights serving Baltimore (BWI), Detroit (DTW), Honolulu (HNL), London (LGW) and Los Angeles (LAX). [26]

Accidents and incidents

See also

Air America pilot's cap AirAmericaPilotCap.jpg
Air America pilot's cap

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References

  1. 1 2 Contractions (Report). Federal Aviation Agency. March 15, 1963. pp. 47–48. hdl: 2027/uc1.c101986578 .
  2. 1 2 Robbins, Christopher (1985). The Ravens. New York: Crown. p. 94. ISBN   0-9646360-0-X.
  3. 1 2 "Air America and Drugs in Laos". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  4. 1 2 The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade , by McCoy, with Cathleen B. Read and Leonard P. Adams II, 2003, p. 385 ISBN   1-55652-483-8
  5. ↑ Leary 2006.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Robbins, Christopher (2005). Air America; from World War II to Vietnam (4th ed.). Bangkok: Asia Books. ISBN   974-8303-51-9.
  7. ↑ Smith, Alec (October 3, 2022). "Project 404: United States Air Force Advisory Mission and the CIA's Secret War in Laos". Grey Dynamics. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ Scott, Peter Dale (February 1, 1970). "Air America: Flying the U.S. into Laos" (PDF). Ramparts. Retrieved July 3, 2023. Air America's operations were leading our country into war in Southeast Asia.
  9. ↑ Nichols, Stephen (June 3, 2013). Air America in Laos: The Flight Mechanics' Stories. nichols/martin. ISBN   978-0615742595.
  10. ↑ "Air America: Played a Crucial Part of the Emergency Helicopter and Fixed Wing Evacuation of Saigon". History Net. June 12, 2006. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Air America Association – Articles". Air-america.org. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  12. ↑ Van Es, Hubert (April 29, 2005). "Thirty Years at 300 Millimeters". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  13. ↑ Butterfield, Fox; Haskell, Kari (April 23, 2000). "Getting it wrong in a photo". The New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  14. ↑ McCoy, Alfred (1972). The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia. Harper & Row. pp. 263–264. ISBN   0060129018. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2015. Air America began flying opium from mountain villages north and east of the Plain of Jars to Gen. Vang Pao's headquarters at Long Tieng.
  15. ↑ "Opium Throughout History". PBS . Retrieved July 15, 2013.
  16. ↑ Cockburn, Alexander; Jeffrey St. Clair (1998). "9". Whiteout, the CIA, drugs and the press . New York: Verso. ISBN   1-85984-258-5.
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  18. ↑ Peebles, Curtiss (2005). Twilight Warriors: Covert Air Operations Against the USSR. Naval Institute Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN   1591146607.
  19. ↑ "Pilots Who Flew For Air America In Vietnam Fight For Pensions". NPR.org. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
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  21. ↑ "Air America: Beech/Volpar Turbo Beech 18". Archived October 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine University of Texas, Dallas, 2006. Retrieved: August 12, 2008.
  22. ↑ P.31 Wings of Air America, A Photo History by Terry Love
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  24. ↑ http://www.timetableimages.com, Dec. 1, 1986 Total Air system timetable
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  26. ↑ "Yesterday's Airlines" . Retrieved July 1, 2023.
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  28. ↑ Leary 2006, p. 191.
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  31. ↑ Aviation safety Network
  32. ↑ {https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=347418 Aviation Safety Network UH-34 H-32 581444]
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  34. ↑ "949 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  35. ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 23, 1970 page 1. Accessed July 2, 2019
  36. ↑ "Monday 27 December 1971". Aviation Safety Network.
  37. ↑ DPAA.Mil March 1,2019
  38. ↑ DPAA.mil January 23,2019
  39. ↑ DPAA.mil January 23,2019
  40. ↑ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  41. ↑ "084 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved August 21, 2010.

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