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-RDP90-00552R000606800001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 9, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606800001-2
U.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 STE1t ML'rsoN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STRLrr JOURNAL
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
250 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" In Angola In a year. More-
over. all three worked for the same small
airplane-ferrying concern. Globe Aero Ltd.
of Lakeland. Fla. After Mr. Tyler's capture,
a magazine in Mozambique quoted Angolan
sources who claimed that the company was
a front for the Central Intelligence Agency.
which - had unsuccessfully supported
anti-governnment rebels during the 197546
J Angolan
''yyam~ ~,j.s..~. :.v.. ~.-4 .A. . ,?:
After nearly two years in Angolan . jails..
Mr. Tyler was freed lag November as part
of an intricate pristmer`e wbattge between
.
the U.S., die So Iet` nb*..S. oath Africa,
Cabs-*rga4a and a rebel AWon Now back
to Laktland undergoing flight retraining, the.
33-year-old pilot views the.misbap as simply,
an unfortunate accident that resulted In ale-.
dioi, . Kafkaesque incarceration.
In a larger context, however, Mr. Tyler's
misadventure thrust him into the center of a
controversy over U.S. aid to Angolan tnsur.
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.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
9 February 1983
In response to congressional Inquiries,
the State Department has denied any con-
nection between Mr.
Tyler or Globe Aero
. and the U.S. govern-
; colleagues at Globe
-' Aero dismiss any
suggestion that the
company has ties
to the CIA. A re-
porter's questioning
alone these lines Is
cracks: "To us, CIA
means cash in ad-,
Geoffrey Tyler Globe Aero pilot who
bought out the companys former owners in_
1975.
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 Aero aids insur-
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 tar comm of the
globe. Most operate an shoestring budgets
from runways near stall-aircraft plants to
the U.S. Typically, ferrying companies .act
as an agent between buyer and manufac-
turer; the b yer pays a flu delivery fee to '
the ferrying eoanpany..plus the pilot's salary
and trip txpenus.
on" uneventful flights.. lt. js 'lonely, quiet
work. "You feel caattrat when, things are go-
Ing well, " Mr. Tyler ,says. "You feel as If
your destiny is to your 'basis, The sure
comes up and you feel as if it is yours."
But the solitary flights abo entail oca-
sional life-or-death crises and.risky landings
In places even -No hospitable than Angola.
The pilots travel up to 18 hours of a stretch,
often over fac eles 'Oceans that release so
prisoners. Most pilots wort only three or
tour years before, switching to a different
line of work.
The job attracts mavericks and loners,,
according to David Lloilogia. the editor of
Business. Aviation magazine. The pilots. be
says, are ?'a bit of a..ditiered breed: they're .
flying over 3,000 or 4.000 Mils with nobody .
to talk to. not a damn thing to look at except,
the ocean, .and -H something goes_ wrong.
~:,...
their options are limited.'..:......
Mr. Tyler is typical of many ferry pilots.
Rootless and restless, he learned-to By as a
teen-ager. He attended the Citadel. a muh
tary college In South Cerolina. Joined the
Army and spent seven years in South Korea.
Colorado and Iran. While to Iran, be man-.
STAT
sal. He left in 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 terry 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 Aero 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 5500
and 51.000 per delivery to South Africa. Its
unsalaried pilots certify each plane as fit to
fljc and receive 52.000 per trip. The buyer
also picks up expenses of $5,000 to 512.000-
depending on weather conditions and fuel
prices. On these flights Globe Aero pilots of-
ten cut costs by skipping an optional -stop in
Gabon.
Unlucky Route
The Lakeland-to-South Africa run is an
ill-starred one for Globe Aero. On April 22,
1979, one of its pilots came down in Angola
and was bold for three weeks. A year later
to the day. another pilot made an emer-
gency .landing In Angola and was held for
six months. On Sept 30, 2980, a Globe Aero
pilot landed just w2 beast of Angola In a re-
mote desert in Botswana: be was eventually
rescued. And on Dec. 10, 1980, another pilot
en route to South Africa crashed to Mary-
land 'tad was :1d11ed. -
Mr.. Tyler had Down the South Africa
route 25 times when he took of from l Ake-
'land on Jan. 29,196L-Be flew the usual route
north to Newfoundland, over the Atlantic
and down the west coast of Africa. The jour-
ney was uneventful until the night of Feb. 4
when, on the 2,000-ttulle leg to W tndhoec]t.
Mr. Tyler says, his electric primer pump
jammed and began flooding the engine. He
says be bad to turn .off his cabin electrical
system to keep from stalttng. ' ' .
By morning, be says, heavy fog along the
coast forced him to bead in'and- Spotting a
dirt road between the clouds. be landed. He
says be knew he was near the Angolan bor-
der but was unaware that he had acttnlty
crossed inside the -.country.-
As be climbed oat -of the panne. be was
greeted by the Angolan soldiers, who noticed
.the American nap. On his flight sus. A
search of the plane yielded nothing. Mr.
Tyler an. Band and blindfolded, be was
flown to Quango Cubango. the provincial
capital. There be was kept in a room
adorned with lame pictures of Marx. Lenin
and Castro-a scene. be recalls, "out of a
movie set." After questioning he was moved
to Luanda, Angola's capital.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606800001-2