The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in other roles, including as a gunship (AC-130), for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol, and aerial firefighting. It is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. More than 40 variants of the Hercules, including civilian versions marketed as the Lockheed L-100, operate in more than 60 nations.
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.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1980.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1983.
St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport is a public/military airport in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay Area. It is right on the northeast municipal boundary of Pinellas Park, 9 miles (14 km) north of downtown St. Petersburg, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Clearwater, and 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Tampa.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1994.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 2000.
Saturn Airways was a US supplemental air carrier, certificated as such by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US air transport. Saturn operated from 1948 until 1976. Originally a Florida company, Saturn moved to Oakland, California in 1967 where its headquarters were located on the grounds of Oakland International Airport.
TAAG Angola Airlines E.P. is a state-owned airline and flag carrier of Angola. Based in Luanda, the airline operates domestic services within Angola, medium-haul services in Africa and long-haul services to Brazil, Cuba, and Portugal. The airline was originally set up by the government as DTA – Divisão dos Transportes Aéreos in 1938, rechristened TAAG Angola Airlines in 1973, and gained flag carrier status in 1975. It is now a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association. The airline uses Quatro de Fevereiro Airport as their hub, but plans to move their hub progressively to Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport until the end of the first quarter of 2025. The first flight connection at the new airport was launched on November 10, 2024.
The Trans Service Airlift Lockheed L-188 crash occurred on 18 December 1995 when a Lockheed L-188C Electra owned by Trans Service Airlift crashed near Jamba, Angola, killing 141 of the passengers and crew.
Southern Air Transport (SAT), based in Miami, Florida, was, in its final incarnation, a cargo airline. However, it started life as an irregular air carrier, a type of carrier defined and tightly controlled until 1978 by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), a now defunct Federal agency that, at the time, closely regulated almost all US commercial air transportation. From 1965 onward, such airlines were charter carriers. Up until 1965, they were charter/scheduled hybrids. For much of that time the carrier was owned by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (1960–1973).
National Air Cargo Group, Inc., also operating as National Airlines, is a U.S. airline based in Orlando, Florida. It operates on-demand cargo and passenger charter services. It added scheduled passenger service on December 16, 2015, from its hub at Orlando Sanford International Airport, Orlando.
Transafrik International is a cargo airline based in Angola with its offices in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.
On 8 January 1996, a Moscow Airways Antonov An-32B operating on behalf of Air Africa overran the runway at N'Dolo Airport after attempting to take-off overloaded. The aircraft was flying from Kinshasa to Kahemba, Zaire. The aircraft ploughed into Kinshasa's Simbazikita street market. Four of the six crew of the aircraft survived the accident. On the ground, however, it is estimated that there were in between 225 and 348 fatalities with more than 500 people injured. This crash remains the deadliest in African history, and the deadliest in terms of ground fatalities, superseded only by the intentional crashes of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 in the September 11 attacks, and thus the deadliest accident in terms of ground fatalities.
Scibe Airlift was an airline from Zaire, with its base at N'Djili Airport, Kinshasa.
TAAG Flight 462 was a TAAG Angola Airlines flight which crashed just after the Boeing 737-200 took off from Lubango Airport in Lubango, Angola, on a regular domestic service as Flight DT 462 to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda on November 8, 1983. All 130 occupants onboard were killed.
The 1989 Jamba Hercules crash was an air accident involving a Lockheed Hercules L-100 aircraft that crashed on final approach to Jamba, Cuando Cubango, Angola on 27 November 1989. The flight had originated at Kamina Airport, Zaire, and was attempting a low-level approach at night. The aircraft was owned by CIA front company Tepper Aviation; it was delivering arms to UNITA. The crash killed "Bud" Peddy, the head of Tepper Aviation, who was acting as the plane's pilot. On board were several Americans, two West Germans, and a Briton. All were killed in the accident.
