U.S. PILOT'S JAIL STAY IN ANGOLA IRKS HIM AND STIRS QUESTIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100420007-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: February 9, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100420007-7
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
9 February 1983
L.S. Pilot's Jail Stay
In Angola Irks Him
And Stirs Questions
Is Florida Ferrying Outfit
Unlucky, or Is It Engaged
In Risky CIA-Style Jobs?
By STE%t MursoN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL. Srwrrr Jouiuwi.
As pilot Geoffrey Tyler tells it, he was on
a routine flight from the U.S. to South Af-
rica. delivering a small plane to a business-
man there. On the night of Feb. 4, 1981, he
was on what was to be the longest leg of that
journey, the 16-hour trip from Abidjan,
Ivory Coast, to Windhoeck, Namibia.
As it happened. the trip took about 21
months longer than expected. A forced land-
ing, Mr. Tyler says, accidentally put him
down along Angola's southern border, where
South African troops and rebel Angolan
.forces have periodically staged attacks
against the Soviet-backed Angolan govern-
ment. Upon landing, Mr. Tyler was met by
25o Angolan government soldiers,' who sur-
rounded him and tied him up face down in
the dirt.
The Angolans had reason to be wary of
Mr. Tyler. An active U.S. military reserve
officer. he was the third U.S. pilot to land
-accidentally" to Angola In $ year. More-
over. all three worked for the same small
airplane-ferrying concern, Globe Aem Lt&
of Lakeland, Fla. After Mr. Tyler's capture,
a magazine in Morsmbigne quoted Angolan
sources who claimed that the company was
a front for the Central Intelligence Agency.
which . ' bad unsuccessfully supported
anti-goveraynaent rebels .during the 197546
Angolan e2vil weer : :~'-Y .- 1
Aneotaa. jails..:
After nearly two years in
Mr. lylerrwwas . fre ed lnR November .as part
?of an Intricate Prix - ,~..~
the ?:U Soft- . AWAM ,
Caba,.*ngola and-a re be3Jawan. Now bad
to Lakeland undergoing !light retraining. the.
J3-yearold pilot views the mishap as dm*
an unfortunate accident that resulted In ale-.
dious..Kafkaesque incarceration.
in a larger context. however, Mr. TyleTS
misadventure thrust him into the center of a {
controversy over U.S. aid to Angolan irrsur.
gents. And. in drawing attention to the ob-
scure aircraft-ferrying business, it raised
questions about the ethics and advisability
of exporting aircraft and other equipment
abroad when their end use is uncertain.
In response to congressional inquiries,
the State Department has denied any con.
Tyler or Globe Aem
and the U.S. govern-
ment. Mr. Tyler's
colleagues at Globe
Aem dismiss any
suggestion that the'
company has ties
to the CIA. A re-
< along these lines Is
cracks: "To us, CiA
means cash In ad- .
Geoffrey Tyler Globe Aero pilot who
bought out the company's former owners to.
Mr. Waldman pulls out an article from
the magazine Covert Action, published by a
Washington-based group that attempts to ex-
pose CIA activities.- Across the article,
which suggests that Globe Aem aids lasur-
gents. be has scrawled, "Communist propa-
Only about a half-dozen companies and
between 25 and 50 pilots make it their busi-
ness .to deliver small planes from manufac-.
turers to customers in. for corners of the
globe. Most operate on Moestrittg budgets
from runways near small-aircraft plants to
the U.S. Typically, ferrying companies .act
as an agent between buyer and manufac-
turer: the buyer pays a flat delivery fee to
the ferrying _company. plat the pilot's salary
and trip expenses.
Orr,meventfnl Digit 1k 3slaoely, quiet work. "You feel content when" things are go-
ing well," ' Mr..Tyler 'says. "You feel as if
your destiny Is k you 'hands The arm
comes up and you feel as if It is yours."
But the solitary Mgbts also entail occa-
sional Mewrdeath criee and.rishty landings
in places even has hospitable than Angola.
The pilots travel up-to 18 boars it a stretch,
often over faceless oceans that release no
prisoners. Most pibts work only three or
four years before. switching to a different
line of work.
The job attrae s maverk b and lroners..
according to David lcgan.' the 'editor of
Business. Aviation magarine- The pilots, Ae
'
says, IBM "a bit of a.d ffeteat breed: they're
flying aver, 3X8 ,or 4.000 miles with nobody;,
to talk to. sot a damn thing to Took at except: oceta,? ?anted --if sonrreddog = go ss. wrogg,
tWeil options in {rrited.".aV.-i. ..:...~i ..: ..
Mr. Tyler is typkah of many ferry pilots.
Rootless and restless, be learned-to fly as a'
teen-alter. He attended the Otadel, a mW-
tary college In Sontb Carolina, joined the
Army and spent seven years In South Korea.
Colorado and Iran. While In Iran. be man-
aged a American
tal. He supplies 1978 after two years, weary of
what he regarded as a dull desk job. Return-
ing to the U.S., he separated from his wife
and moved to Florida to become a flight in-
structor. In 1979 he joined Globe Aero.
The ferry business then. unlike now, was
booming. Gold prices were soaring. and in
places like South Africa and Australia de-
mand was strong for such luxuries as small
private aircraft. In 1981 Globe Aem em-
ployed 25 pilots-it now has eight-who de-
livered 450 planes. The company had cap-
tured most of the South African market.
Globe Aero charges a buyer between $500
and $1,000 per delivery to South Africa. Its
unsalaried pilots certify each plane as fit to
ft and receive $2,000 per trip. The buyer
also picks up expenses of $5.000 to $12.000-
depending on weather conditions and fuel
pnceL On these Mob Globe A
costs by skipping an optimal stop to
Gabon.
'Unlucky Route
The Lakeland-to-South Africa run is an
ill-starred one for Globe Aem. On April 22,
1979, one of its pilots came down in Angola
and was held for three weeks. A year later
to the day, ano her pilot made an ever
geacy ?landin in Angola and was held for
six months. On Sept 30, M. a Globe Acm
pilot landed just southeast of Angola in are-
mote desert in Botswana: be was eventually
rescued. And on Dec. 10, M. another pilot '
en route to South Africa crashed to Mary-
land and was :ktfDIL
: Mr.. Tyler had Down be South Africa
mate 25 times when be took off from Lake-
land on Jan.29.BM-He flew the usual route
north to Newfoundland, over the Atlantic
and down the west coast of Africa. Tice jour
ney was uneventful anti] the night of Feb. 4
when. on the 2,800anle leg to Whadhoeck,
Mr. Tyler says. his electric primer pump
jammed and began fhoodiag the engine. He
says be bad to tarn off his cabin electrical
system to keep barn staDiag.. ' .
By morning, he says. heavy tog along the
mast torotd bun to .head tahaad. Spotting a
dirt road between the clouds. he landed. He
says be knew be was near the Angolan bor.
der but was jmawe m that he had actually
crossed ~dde the eromtry.' - ?
As be climbed 404 the PIM-he Was,
greeted by the Angolan soldiers, who noticed
.the American flags. on his flight salt A
search of the plane yielded nothing. Mr.
Tyler says. Bound and blindfolded, be was
Down to Qrango Qtbango, the provincial
capital. There he was kept to a morn
adorned with large pictures of Marx. Lade
and Castro-a scene, be recalls, "out of a
movie set" After questioning he was moved
Ito Luanda, Angola's apital.
1CONTL10ER
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100420007-7