Southern Air Transport

The first Southern Air Transport, based in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, formed on February 11, 1929 when businessman A. P. Barrett consolidated Texas Air Transport and several other small aviation companies. Later that year SAT came under the control of the Aviation Corporation, the company that organized American Airlines

American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

Southern Air Transport (1947-1998)

The second Southern Air Transport, based in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, is best known as a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

. It was founded in 1947 and became a subsidiary of the CIA's airline proprietary network, the Pacific Corporation

Pacific Corporation

The Pacific Corporation , was a holding company that the Central Intelligence Agency used to control several aviation front companies.Former US Army pilot George Doole created Pacific as a Delaware corporation in 1950...

. SAT's Pacific Division supported the US war effort

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

, and operated 23 Lockheed Hercules aircraft in its fleet. They were c.n.s 4134, 4147, 4208, 4248, 4250, 4299, 4300-4302, 4362, 4383, 4384, 4388, 4391, 4472, 4477, 4558, 4561, 4562, 4565, 4586, 4590 and 4763.

As of 1982, the SAT fleet was as follows:

Douglas DC-6
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...

, c.n. 45325, N28CA, leased in, F.A. Conner
Douglas DC-6A, c.n. 45237, N6539C, leased in, Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport was a Chinese airline, later owned by the CIA, that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia...
Curtiss C-46, c.n. ?, N772A, leased in, Carib Air Cargo
Curtiss C-46, c.n. 4219, N783V, leased in, Carib Air Cargo
Lockheed L-100-30, c.n. 4362, N7984S, line number 84S
Curtiss C-46, c.n. 20749, N87629, leased in, Carib Air Cargo
Lockheed L-100-30, c.n. 4299, N9232R, line number 32R
Lockheed L-100-20, c.n. 4250, N9266R, line number 66R
Douglas DC-8
Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...

, c.n. 45296, XA-LSA, leased in, Aeroleon, formerly registered N8027U

Although the CIA was ordered to divest its airlines in 1976, SAT continued to support US covert activities in El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

, Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

, and elsewhere. On October 3, 1986 Nicaragua shot down a SAT C-123K

C-123 Provider

The C-123 Provider was an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and subsequently built by Fairchild Aircraft for the United States Air Force...

, N4410F, formerly USAF 54-679 (c/n 20128), cargo plane with a Soviet-supplied, shoulder-launched heat-seeking missile and captured the cargo handler, a SAT employee Eugene Hasenfus

Eugene Hasenfus

Eugene H. Hasenfus is a United States citizen who was alleged by Nicaragua Sandinista authorities to be employed by the U.S...

, exposing the Iran-Contra affair

Iran-Contra Affair

The Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...

. Two other crew were killed.

SAT operated out of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

during the Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

n crisis using C-130 aircraft. They also recruited and tried to recruit Canadian service members into their group.

SAT operated out of Asmara, Ethiopia, (now Eritrea), during the Ethiopian famine of the late 80's. It hauled thousands of tons of relief supplies in the middle of a hot war under contracts for the UN, CARITAS, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, saving thousands of lives.

SAT was heavily involved in famine and disaster relief efforts in other areas of Africa, as well. SAT supported the airlift into southern Sudan from the late 80's into the middle 90's. At one time, SAT Hercules aircraft were the sole food supply for the refugee camps in the Juba, Sudan area, during the north-south war. Again, SAT provided food for the helpless and saved countless thousands of lives.

SAT's extensive operations included both offshore and domestic operations and SAT aircraft touched down on all seven continents and in well over a hundred countries. SAT aircraft were based in Papua New Guinea, the U.K, and very commonly in various African countries, as well as other offshore locations, with crews rotating in and out as demand required.

The crews were unique. Highly talented crewmembers were recruited from both ex-military and civilian-trained personnel. SAT consistently performed highly difficult and challenging tasks on a wide variety of contracts, many in disturbed areas such as Somalia, both prior to and after the notorious Blackhawk Down incident. SAT Hercs also operated in Angola, Mozambique, Djibouti, Senegal, and the DRC.

SAT's crew training was maintained to the highest standards in aviation. The aircraft were consistently well-maintained, often under the most difficult of circumstances. Maintenance personnel were of the highest caliber.

Prior to the military cutback during the Clinton administration, SAT supported the U.S. Air Force's Logair cargo system, as well as the U.S. Navy's Quicktrans systems, operating much more efficiently than the military could using their own airlift. SAT also flew extensively in Europe and west Asia in support of both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy, basing out of Ramstein Air Force Base near Landsthul, Germany, and Mildenhall Air Force Base in East Anglia, U.K.

Sat carried cargo of all possible description, from hauling newspapers from the U.K. to Ireland at night in winter across the Irish sea, to carrying breeding horses to Brazil. Additionally, SAT was entrusted with King Tut's treasure. One notable 747 mission involved hauling a load of lions from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, South Africa, the lions being on loan from the Amsterdam Zoo to the Johannesburg Zoo.

SAT L-382's, 707's, DC-8's and 747's served many commercial carriers carrying outsize cargo and hazardous materials. It also performed routine U.S. Embassy supply missions throughout Latin America, covering all of Central and South America, as well as Mexico.

One of SAT's most notable accomplishments was a three year contract supporting Chevron's drilling operations in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, operating from a base at Nadzab airport near Lae. Chevron was totally dependent on SAT L-382's, as no roads reached the massive oil recovery operation near Lake Kutubu. Papua New Guinea provides some of the world's most challening flying conditions, due both to the rapidly changing tropical monsoons that sweep the island nation, and the incredibly rugged terrain features of the country.

During the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations, SAT's accomplishments became legendary. Both the company and the participating crewmwmbers received performance awards as members of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet from a grateful U.S. Air Force.

The airline declined during the late 1990s but continued to operate freight charter flights worldwide. In late 1998 it tried to merge with other aviation companies, but it filed for bankruptcy on October 1, the same day that the CIA released a report detailing allegations that it had been used for drug trafficking.

On March 10, 1999, the assets of Southern Air Transport were purchased by Southern Air

Southern Air

Southern Air Inc. is a United States airline based in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States.A U.S. FAA part 121 supplemental cargo carrier and portfolio company of Oak Hill Capital Partners, Southern Air, through an all-Boeing fleet of 777Fs, 747-400BCFs and 747-200s, provides a wide range of...

, and the new carrier began operations in November, 1999.

Southern Air Transport

Southern Air Transport (1947-1998)

See also