(EST PUB DATE) CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT VOLUME III OF IV

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01511930
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 251
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2018
• Case Number: F-2018-02086
• Publication Date: April 1, 1967

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CS Historical Paper
No. 87
Volume III of IV
CLANDESTINE SERVICES
HISTORY
(ma OF PAPER)
CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT (CAT)
A PROPRIETARY AIRLINE
(pump)
1946 - 1955
DO NOT DESTROY
Date published: April 1969
Copy #2 of 2 copies
S
Controlled by � O Division
Date prepared :
Written by
April 1967
Alfred T. Cox
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NOTICE
I. This historical paper is a permanent part of the Clandestine Services
History, and may not be destroyed.
2. It is included in the "Catalog of CS Histories" maintained by the
Clandestine Services Group of the Historical Staff (HS/CSG), 0/DC!.
3. If this document is moved from the office of control appearing on
the front of this cover, the DD/P Representative, Historical Staff,
0/DCI, should be immediately notified of the new office of control.
FORM
6-65
2485
(13-36)
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CS Historical Paper
No. 87
VOLUME III of IV
CLANDESTINE SERVICES HISTORY
CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT (CAT)
A PROPRIETARY AIRLINE
1946 - 1955
Copy No. 1 of 2: SOD
Copy No. 2 of 2: DDP
Controlled by :
Date written :
Date published:
Written by :
SECRET
SO Division
April 1967
May 1969
Alfred T. Cox
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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�
Volume III
PRINCIPAL CAT/CIA PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
THE PICKUP OPERATION
INDOCHINA - LIMITED VICTORY IN 1953 -
DIEN BIEN PHU AND DISASTER IN 3.954 . . . �
THE CATHAY-PACIFIC (CPA) INCIDENT �
��
CAT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC OPERATIONS -
SCHEDULED AND NON-SCHEDULED
ENGINEERING AND MAINTENANCE
PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
Note: Reference bibliographies, when used,
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Volume IV
REPORTS OF INTERVIEWS
I. INTERVIEW WITH MR. COLWELL E. BEERS . . . 1
II. INTERVIEW WITH MAJOR GENERAL W. RAY PEERS . 13
III. INTERVIEWS WITH MRS. LOUISE WILLAUER 25
IV. INTERVIEWS WITH MR. THOMAS G. CORCORAN 35
V. INTERVIEW WITH MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM E.
DEPUYI USA 70
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VOLUME III
PRINCIPAL CAT/CIA PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB A
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB B
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB C
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TABD
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB D
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TABE
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(b)(1)
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, It might be pertinent at this time to record a few
remarks with regard to the Madame. ADPC and ADSO had
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made an inspection trip throughout the Far East in early
6/
1952, and ADPC had reported on the Madame as follows:-
117
Formosa.
a. Madame is 'something' to see and hear.
She could charm 'a bird out of a bush.' She
apparently dominates Chiang. But she is liVing
in a dream world in which she is the Empress of
loyal millions who would spring to her side were
Chiang's banner only raised on the mainland."
As far as ADPC's observations went, they were prob-
ably reasonably accurate but by no means complete. The
Madame, who had benefited from both an education in the
United States and an extensive Chinese education, was a
communications link between the Oriental and the Occi-
dental worlds. She could understand whatever Chennault
or Cox, or any other American, meant by what he said
and, in turn, she could translate it in Chinese terms
that were understandable-to the Generalissimo and to
other high Chinese dignitaries. This, to CAT and to
the OPC mission in CAT, was the most important contri-
bution that she made to the Sino-American working
relationships.
Normally our meetings with the Madame followed a
fairly set pattern. The meeting would be arranged
easily by Mrs. Sue Buol, Chennault's secretary, and
almost invariably be set for around 1600 hours just
before tea time. Chennault and Cox usually went
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together when these meetings contained either important
CAT business or occasionally Agency business
On arrival we (b)(1)
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would be given the usual .cup of tea, the Madame would
enter the room and there would be a considerable ex-
change of polite conversation, the Madame would display
her latest Chinese paintings or her most recent acqui-
sitions of jade or other forms of Chinese art, and then
we would all sit down to apple pie a la mode. For some
reason, the Madame considered that all Americans loved
apple pie a la mode, and that this was the biggest
treat or sign of respect that she could show to us. Of
course this always happened to be about the time that
Chennault was accustomed to return to his residence to
be boisterously greeted by his dachshund "Old Joe" and
his two daughters. His wife, Anna, would have his
slippers ready, and a bottle of "Old Grand Dad" and some
cold water would be ready at the side table next to his
chair. But, with good grace, he always ate his apple
pie a la mode, as did Cox.
Having concluded these formalities, the Madame
would look at us as if to say, "Well boys, what is your
problem now?" And we would start getting to the real
purpose of our visit, the reasons and the importance of
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obtaining a favorable result for what we were asking.
She was extremely quick at grasping the nature of the
problem. If she had any questions, they were direct
and of a nature that would enable her to understand the
point that we wished to make, so that she could present
it more lucidly in whatever quarter of government the
point had to be made. Quite often, of course, it in-
volved explaining our viewpoint to the Generalissimo.
After a few minutes of polite conversation, we would
express our appreciation and make our departure,
fervently hoping that the weather would stay good, so
that the Madame would be able to have her usual evening
walk in the garden with the Generalissimo, which was
always undisturbed and unrecorded, but during which the
Madame, at the right time and in the right way, was
able to explain to the Generalissimo, in terms that he
could understand, the nature and importance of our
problem.
This was most helpful to CAT in a number of ways,
as indicated previously, in such matters as the renewal
of the franchise, when the confusion and to some extent
the anger of the Generalissimo over the CATI handling
of its obligations inevitably rebounded against CAT.
It also helped finally to obtain a favorale foreign
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investment law.
and to his successors because(b)(l)
through Chennault, they were able to obtain access to (b)(3)
the Madame and bring to her attention various problems
with which they were having difficulty at lower Chinese
Government levels.
The relationship between CAT and the Madame was by
no means a one-way street. In late 1949, living con-
ditions and the economy of Taiwan were at an extremely
low ebb, and the Madame was disturbed that there was
little inducement for correspondents to come to Taiwan
and report favorably on any reform. At her request CAT
undertook, mainly under the supervision of Mrs. Sue
Buol, to rehabilitate the only available hostel, a
former CNAC property, in order to provide adequate
living conditions and meals for foreign visitors. At
a later date, CAT was of general assistance in the
development of the Grand Hotel, which today ranks as
one of the finest hotels in the Far East. CAT wives
assisted in many charitable and educational activities
with the Chinese people, and their efforts were greatly
appreciated. This aspect of the development of an air-
line for support of Agency operations will be noted
later.
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB E
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TAB F
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( b ) ( 1
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2
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( b ) ( 1
( b ) ( 3
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB F
(b)(1
(b)(3
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TABG
(b)(
(b)(
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(b)(1)
(b)(3)
2
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3
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TABH
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(b)(3)
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(b)(1)
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2
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3
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(b)(
(b)(
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LIST OF REVERENCES
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TAB H
(b)(
(b)(
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TABI
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
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(b)(1)
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(b)(1)
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(b)(1)
(b)(3)
4
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(b
(b
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB I
(b)
(b)
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TAB J
THE PICKUP OPERATION
During the summer of 1952,
discussed with CAT the possibility of develop i9W)
a capability for successfully exfiltrating an agent or(b)(3)
agents by an aerial pickup or "snatch" operation at
night. It was decided to introduce a test program to
determine whether such operations were feasible.
It was decided initially to try out a system that
had been developed and successfully employed in tests
during the latter part of World War II and immediately
thereafter. This called for a line stretched between
two poles, with both ends of the line hooked into a
special harness that was tightly worA by the individ-
ual who was to be picked up. The aircraft, coming in
at low altitude, picked up the part of the line running
between the two poles, by means of a hook lowered from
the aircraft. The aircraft immediately ascended, and
the man in the harness being pulled into the air was
reeled up and into the aircraft by means of a winch
installed near the rear side door. After practicing
first by day and then by night, it was determined that
the system was practical, and that selected CAT crews
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had the capability to perform such missions success-
fully.
In the month of November 1952,
advised that one of his operations had reached the
point where it was highly desirable to
exfiltrate one
of the agents in north China by such an operation. The
writer and the chief pilot, Captain Robert Rousselot,
discussed this with one of the crews we deemed most
highly proficient, Captains Norman Schwartz and Robert
Snoddy. Both advised that, in addition to having the
requisite proficiency, they were willing to undertake
the mission.
This type of operation requires two men in the
rear of the aircraft to operate the winch, and to
assist the agent into the aircraft. 'Several CAT ground
personnel had been checkea out on the procedures re-.
quired in the rear of the aircraft. Our chief of oper-
ations at Tachikawa Air Force Base, "Doc" Lewis, and
an operations officer, James Stewart, also volunteered
for the mission. (Stewart had accompanied Li Mi into
southern Yunnan in an earlier operation and, although
without military training except as a Naval noncom
during World War 11, had performed excellently.) The
was then notified that CAT was prepared
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to accept the mission.
The necessary operational planning proceeded, and
a tentative date was set for the operation.
late stage in the planning,
CAT that it had been decided to withdraw
At a very
notified(b)(1)
(b)(3)
Lewis and
Stewart from the operation and replace them with two
U.S. Army (CIA) civilian employees, John T. Downey and
Richard Fecteau; both were hurriedly trained in carry-
ing out the duties involved in the rear of the aircraft
for such an operation. Weather conditions on that date,
28-29 November 1952, were favorable and the aircraft
was dispatched. As the estimated time of arrival
came and passed, it became more and more painfully
clear that the mission had run into difficulties, and
that the aircraft was not returning..
Rousselot, and the writer quickly assembled ih Tokyo
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CAT Captain Hugh Marsh made the
flight as
planned and without incident. A short press release
was then issued indicating that a CAT aircraft had
been lost in flight over the sea of Japan while en
route from Korea to Japan. The announcement created
little undue attention
some. problems for CAT,
extremely popular.
although, of course, it created
in that the two pilots were
responsible for handling the
(b)(
(b)(
1)
3)
(b)(3)
was, of course, (b)(1)
(b)(3)
notification of next-of-kin
and other matters with regard to Downey and Fecteau.
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Norm Schwartz was single, and no particular
problems were encountered in notifying his next-of-kin
in the States. However, this was not the case with
regard to Bob Snoddy. His wife, Charlotte, was very
attractive and popular; also, she was due to give birth
within a week. The other CAT wives in the area rallied
around to assist her and comfort her. Her father, a
former Air Force officer, hurried to Tokyo as rapidly
as possible. After only a day or so, it became obvious
to Rousselot and Cox that her father was beginning t
suspect strongly that there was more to the story than
met the eye, and that there might be additional problems
unless action was taken to forestall him. We were
impressed by him and decided that, within the bounds
of good reason, it would be best to tell him frankly
that Bob had been on a classified mission in support
of the U.S. Forces in Korea, without in any way
identifying the Agency as being the actual sponsor.
We did this and from then on he gave us complete co-
operation. The baby was born without incident, and
Mrs. Snoddy and the family returned to the States.
It developed that, without the knowledge of Cox,
had taken out life insurance
policies for $20,000 on each of the pilots. It was
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obvious that the insurance company would not make pay-
ment without making at least some kind of an investi-
gation, and that this was more of a risk than could be
taken. The policies were Quickly cancelled, and the
Agency made good to the proper beneficiaries.
As matters stood at that time, therefore, although
deeply regretted, the unfortunate incident seemed to
be laid at rest.
Suddenly, two years later, the Communists annouced
that they had the two Americans, Downey and Fecteau,
as prisoners. They had been involved in a flight into
ChiCom territory, their plane had been shot down and,
although both had been injured, they had survived. At
a public showing in Peking, pictures of the wreckage
were displayed to foreign correspondents. There was
no indication that Schwartz and Snoddy had survived.
The New York Times in all of its editions of
24 November 1954 fully covered the Peiping radio an-
nouncements and followed these up with dispatches from
London and Washington, as well as with formal state-
ments released by the Departments of State and
1/
Defense. � The announcement of the capture and sen-
tencing of Downey and Fecteau was accompanied by the
announcement of the capture and sentencing of 11 other
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airmen, the survivors of an aircraft piloted by Colonel
John Knox Arnold. Arnold commanded the 581st Aerial Re-
supply and Communication Wing.
CAT was not in any (W(1)
(b)(3)
way involved. Downey and Fecteau were labelled as
"Special agents of the Central Intelligence Agency, a
U.S. espionage organization." CAT was not mentioned,
either in terms of ownership of the aircraft or iden-
tification of the crew, although it can be reasonably
assumed that this information had been extracted from
Downey and Fecteau.
By and large, CAT escaped with comparatively little
publicity in this incident. it was not referred to in
any way in the monthly magazine put out by the public
relations office of the airline, the CAT BULLETIN. In
a book on the history of the 315th Air Division in
Korea, one chapter is devoted to the support provided
by CAT to the Korean Airlift. In Chapter 48, entitled
2/
"CAT on the Airlift" the following paragraph appears:
"Although possessing no status in the
military, CAT pilots took their own chances
on being captured by the enemy, and on crash-
ing their planes in dangerous military combat
operations. On at least three occasions, this
actually happened. The first was on December 8,
1950, when a CAT C-16 en route to Korea crashed
into Mount Fuji. .-_ree crew members were killed
The next day, anotner CAT C-46 crashed while
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making a hazardous landing at Chinese-encircled
Yonpo airstrip in North Korea. One of the five
passengers, an 801st Squadron medic en route to
care for some wounded, was killed, and the three
civilian crew members were seriously injured. -
Whether the C-46 was hit by enemy ground fire
as it circled the field is not known. On another
occasion, a CAT C-47 disappeared while returning
from Korea after delivering a Combat Cargo load."
With the limited information available, it has been
the.opinion of CAT officers knowledgeable of the oper-
ation that the aircraft, coming in at low altitude for
the pickup, ran into a hail of ground fire, was badly
hit, that the crew attempted to gain altitude, that
this apparently gave Downey and Fecteau the opportunity
to parachute out of the rear door, and that the air-
craft then plunged to the ground killing the crew.
From the viewpoint of an officer of the airline,
and based on the information available thus far, Cox
cannot fault the operation. The crew was highly
trained and capable, courageous, and motivated. The
.flight plan must have been accurate and must have been
flown with exactitude, as' it is assumed that the plane
had located the pickup point, received the proper
ground reception signals, and descended to low altitude.
(This assumption can probably be verified only after
the release of one or both of the prisoners.) Refine-
ments can probably be made to (b)(1)
(b)(3)
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insure its more prompt execution, and to foresee pos-
sible slip-ups that might affect security; i.e., curi-
osity among personnel at the Korean air base, faulty
logging in the flight records in the tower and oper-
ations room, etc. Perhaps consideration should have
been given to the current status of the Snoddy family,
but then this was a kind of luxury that neither the
military nor the Agency could afford during-a-time of
active military hostilities..
As an officer of the Agency, Cox had no knowl-
edge of the nature of the clandestine operations, and
was responsible only for providing the necessary air
support for the pickup of the agent. It is probably
certain that there has been a thorough reexamination
of the operation in order to determine what,. if any-
thing, might have
had gone amiss in
been a prior indication that things
the field.
However, there are a
couple of points affecting the air
the operation that might be noted.
First, the late change of assignments in the rear
of the aircraft meant that two Agency employees,
knowledgeable of many aspects of Agency operations,
including locat:Lons L�nd personnel, were exposed to
possible capture and risk of being forced to divulge
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such information to the ChiComs . Lewis and Stewart
were very good personal friends of the writer, but
from a purely realistic. Agency point of view, they
offered much less of a security risk for the Agency
than did Downey and Fecteau.
All of the foregoing has been written entirely
from information that was available to the writer,
who was acting president of CAT at the time. Recent
research efforts have picked up additional bits of
information which are worthy of mention. On 22 Decem-
ber 1952, the Air Force notified the acting vice-
president of CAT, Inc., who was stationed in Tokyo,
that negative results had been obtained in the land/
sea search for B-813. It concluded that the plane
crashed in the water between the K-3 airfield and
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Miho with no survivors.�
On 22 December 1953, Mr Var Green, General
Manager CA:' Japan/Korea wrote to Major General Jacob
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E. Smart, Deputy for Operations FEAF. The letter
advised that some official proof of death or assumed
death was required for the proper settling of the
estates of Captains Schwartz and Snoddy. It requested
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that USAF or FEAF issue the proper certification.
On 6 January 1954, the Senior Representative of the
North Asian Command sent a dispatch to Chief, FE Divi-
sion, covering a conversation with FEAF regarding the
issuances of the necessary certificates. Attached was
a proposed letter from FEAF Headquarters requesting
that the Secretary of the Air Force make a presumptive
finding of death, and that the death certificates be
5/
forwarded to FEAF for delivery to CAT, Inc.
As yet, further documents covering responses to
the two memoranda noted above have not been located.
On 2 December 1954, at the request of the DCI,
Chief of FE Division, wrote to
the DCI a complete chronological summary of all signifi-
cant correspondence and communications, including
various regulations and changes of regulations with
detailed procedural instructions as to the conduct of
both flights. This file is quite complete, although it
does not indicate the problems that arose when th
Chinese Communists announced that Downey and Fecteau
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were prisoners. It includes all the significant- cables,
'1 Also included in this file is an (W(1)
(b)(3)
air chart showing the flight plan for the plane, B-813,
indicating the exact location of the DZ, and an Air
Force report of a wreckage sighting dated 1 February
6/
1953.� (This was some 30 miles from the DZ.)
Additional documents that have just come to light
are as follows:
a. A special Report - PP, PM to the DCI
via the DDP from AC/FE, on the subject of the
missing aircraft. This was a crash memorandum
to advise the Director that the plane was mis-
sing, and that steps were being taken with
regard to handling any publicity or press
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releases; it describes the nature of the oper-
ation, giving the locations of coordinates of
the DZ (which was sone 40 miles north of the
Korea/Manchuria border in the vicinity of the
town of Antu). It also gave a brief description
of the snatch gear that had been used oper-
7/
ationally on the mission.
b. In the memorandum from the Chief, FE
to the DDCI on 8 October 1953, the DDCI was
advised that certain changes in a previous
memorandum should be made to show precision
and uniformity of all details contained there-
in. It specifically recommended that the
section concerning the two Department of Army
civilians, who initially were reported as
hitchhiking a ride on the aircraft, should be
changed to read that they were engaged on an
official mission. It recommended against
notifying relatives and dependents in advance
of the placement of the names of enlisted
personnel on the POW list, as this might
lead to additional queries and could cause
legal complications arising from claims on
the estate of Richard Fectcau following the
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recent death of his second wife. It also
recommended that it was considered advisable
to make an approach to the Communist com-
batants in the form of a name trace, and with-
out any assertion as to knowledge of detention
of the missing personnel. It recommended that
placement of the two names on the POW list be
effected by the Department of Defense, and that
all inquiries be directed to the Department of
Defense. It closes with a conclusion that the
Communists missed their best opportunity for
making propaganda by not having done so at the
time the incident occurred. (All this, of
course, took place before the Chicoms announced
that they were holding the two as prisoners.
All during this period the ChiComs had made it
clear that Allied personnel captured in
Manchuria were not subject to the same POW
treatment that was in effect at the time in
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North Korea.)
The writer has not been able to locate what was
probably voluminous correspondence between the Agency,
DOD, and the Department of State on what must have been
a hurried exchange of cables and memoranda, immediately
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after the announcement of the detention of Downey and
Fecteau.
The main points to be learned from the immediately
preceding paragraphs covering Headquarters internal cor-
respondence are that the Agency must develop a series
of procedures that would cover any kind of eventuality,
including death or presumption of death, known POW or
possible POW, and be prepared to act accordingly. This
is most important, not only for the protection of
Agency interest, but also to insure the proper handling
of the estate of an individual who might be in one of
the four categories listed above, but with no real
proof on the part of the Agency as to which category
the individual actually should be placed. In this
particular incident, it appears that the crew was killed
and the two DAC's (Department of the Army Civilian) were
taken prisoners. Both the Agency and CAT believed that
all four were dead, and were taking steps accordingly
in order to settle estates. There is still a minor
possibility that Schwartz and Snoddy could still be
alive, but that would seem to be extremely doubtful.
In one aspect, despite the loss of the crew and
the aircraft, CAT was fortunate in that as a privately
owned and operated airline it could more readily handle
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a great deal of the legal aspects of settling the
pilots' estates. As indicated in. some of the above
correspondence, it was necessary to obtain a cer-
tificate of presumption of death, but it was also
indicated that the Department of Defense would be
willing to issue such certificates.
. In any event, any procedures developed by the
Agency should probably be carefully checked out with
the appropriate offices of Defense and the Department
of State.
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LIST OF REFERENCES
THE PICKUP OPERATION
1. The New York Times, 24 November 1954, First
Section, page 1 and succeeding page's.
TAB J
2. The Greatest Airlift �- The Story of Combat Cargo,
Captain Annis G. Thompson, First Edition, May 1954,
Dai-Nippon Printing Company, Tokyo, Japan, page 449.
3. Memo from Colonel Robert E. Warren, Assistant Deputy
for Operations, FEAF to Mr. A.L. Burridge, Acting
Vice President CAT, Inc., Subject: Negative Report
of Land and Sea Search for B-813, dated 22 December
1952. Unclassified. It is an attachment to
TS 98133.
4. Memo to Major General,J.E. Smart, Deputy for Oper-
ations, FEAF from Var Green, General Manager CAT
Japan/Korea, dated 22 December 1953. Unclassified.
5. Dispatch from Representative, Far East Command to
Chief, FE Division, Subject:. Conversation with
FEAF Re: Issuance of Death Certificates, dated
6 January 1954, FJTA to 600 TS 98133.
6. Memo for DCI from Chief, FE Division, Subject:
FE Overflights, dated 2 December 1954, TS 106136.
7. Special Report - PP, PM to DCI via DDP from Acting
Chief, FE Division, dated 1 December 1952, Secret
Security Information.
8. Memo for DDCI From Chief, FE Division, Subject:
CIA Personnel Missing in Action, dated 8 October
1952. TS 91080. Refers to Memo for the DCI,
dated 1 October 1952, Subject: As above. TS 90984.
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TAB
INDOCHINA, LIMITED VICTORY IN 1953 -- LIEN BIEN PHU
AND DISASTER IN 1954 -
In early 1953 the Viet Minh, under Ho Chi Minh,
were exerting increasingly heavy pressure on the French
and loyal Indochinese forces; it was apparent that
unless major assistance were furnished to the French,
Indochina would fall under Communist control. The Viet
Minh had launched a major offensive directed toward the
Plaine des Jarres, and, if successful, this would pose
a major threat for the country as a whole. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower was faced with the momentous
decision of entering the conflict with American military
forces, or of seeking other means of providing effective
assistance. The writer has not been able to locate the
documentation for a fully factual report. Some of what
has been written will be hearsay; most of it will be
factual.
President Eisenhower called an urgent meeting of
the Cabinet to consider the problem. The question arose
as. to whether it would be helpful to provide cargo air-
craft to the French o assist them in their airlift.
It was generally agreed that the French did not have
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trained personnel for the operation of such aircraft
as the C-119, and probably could not train aircrews
in time to be effective. The President turned to
Mr. Allen Dulles, who was attending the Cabinet meet-
ing in his capacity as Director of Central Intelligence,
and asked whether or not CIA could furnish crews for
C-119's. The Director immediately replied in the af-
firmative. Lt. General Cabell, Deputy Director of
Central Intelligence, much later informed Cox that he
tried desperately to catch the Director's attention, as
he was positive that this was an impossible undertaking.
On Wednesday, 29 April 1953, an urgent cable was
received in Hong Kong which somewhat apologetically
explained that Headquarters understood that CAT was
heavily committed in several areas of operations, but
which asked whether the organization could almost im-
mediately provide aircrews for the operation of six
C-119's. These aircraft were to be furnished to the
French, who would then contract with CAT for the pro-
vision of aircrews for their operations. The writer
hurriedly met with the chief pilot, Captain Robert E.
Rousselot, and the vice president for operations,
Mr. C. Joseph Rosbert. After a rapid but thorough
assessment, it waS decided to undertake the task, and
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the perhaps somewhat overambitious reply was sent to
Headquarters to the effect of, "can do; no sweat."
Cabell stated that his immediate reaction was simply,
"Who the hell is this guy Cox?" (Cox had never met
Generall Cabell, and did not do so until some two years
later.) Twelve of our better pilots were selected, and
messages were sent ordering them to rendezvous in Taipei
as rapidly as possible.
Cox contacted Colonel John Lackey, USAF Attache
in Hong Kong, who was a personal friend, and with whom
he had had a completely cooperative relationship in the
past. Cox advised him of the nature of the task, with-
out revealing the Agency interest, intimating only that
the request had been received from an official U.S.
source, and that the requirement was in support of U.S.
national objectives.
Headquarters had advised that arrangements were be-
ing made with the 13th Air Force at Clark Field, the
Philippines, for the provision of the aircraft and the
training of the aircrews. Colonel Lackey knew the
Commanding General of the 13th Air Force, Major General
John Sessums, and immediately volunteered to proceed to
Clark, in order to consult with the general and his
staff, and to make sure that everything was in readiness
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for our arrival. By the evening of Friday, 1 May 1953,
the entire group had assembled in Taipei, and early on
Saturday they departed for Clark Field aboard a CAT
C-46, piloted by Captain Rousselot. The writer accom-
panied the flight.
On arrival at Clark shortly before noon, we were
met at the ramp by an Air Force lieutenant colonel and
by Colonel Lackey. The lieutenant colonel introduced
himself, saying that he had been assigned the respon-
sibility for the training of the CAT crews, and that a
three-week training course had been drawn up on which
he was prepared to commence immediately after lunch.
The writer told him that the job had to be done in
three days, which was the requirement established by
Headquarters. His response was that this was impos-
sible. At this point, Colonel Lackey and Cox departed
to call on General Sessums. They located the general
at his residence and received a very courteous welcome.
He stated he did not know fully what this was all about,
but he had gathered from the general tenor of the
instructions he was receiving from Washington that, if
�the writer said three days, it was going to be three
days, and he promised that this would be passed on to
the lieutenant colonel and his staff.
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After a quick lunch, the pilots assembled in a
classroom and began their training. The C-119 is dis-
tinguished by a very high degree of electrical operation
of major and minor components, whereas the C-46, with
which our flight personnel were most intimately expert,
ran very heavily towards hydraulic operations. It was
our concern that this factor might be the one major
stumbling block in the training of the crews.. The air-
crews continued their classroom study until late that
night.
Early Sunday morning Rousselot and Cox departed
with the CAT aircraft for Saigon, in order to insure
that adequate preparations were being made for the
reception of the aircraft and crews. Clark Field was
asked to file the necessary cable to Saigon to arrange
for clearance to land. As we taxied out to the runway,
we had to pause in order to permit the first landing of
a C-119 by a CAT pilot; in this case. Captain Felix
Smith. Very frankly, Cox thought it was one of the
lousiest landings he had ever seen -- the aircraft was
all over the place -- but the plane landed- successfully,
straightened itself out, and then we breathed a sigh of
relief.
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When about half-way between Clark and Saigon,
Rousselot radioed ahead to Saigon, in order to advise
them of the ETA. Cox was sitting in the rear of the
aircraft at the time, and a few minutes later the
radio operator, in a rather agitated condition, came
back with the reply from Saigon. It stated that the
plane had not been cleared for entry over Indochina and
for landing at Saigon and should return to Clark Field.
If it continued on its course, it would be shot down.
Messages were immediately dispatched in the clear to
Clark Field and to Taipei, outlining the situation and
urgently requesting that Clark obtain the necessary
clearances as rapidly as possible, and saying that in
the meantime the plane was continuing on course If it
was going to be shot down, the crew at least were going
to be sure that people knew and would do something about
it.
It was a clear day and, as the plane approached
the Indochina coast the crew quickly spotted two French
fighters coming up to intercept. The fighters pulled
up on our wing tips, and our plane was told that if it
persisted in proceeding to Saigon, it would be permitted
to land, but the aircraft would be imp nded and all
personnel aboard taken into custody. The plane landed
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in Saigon in midafternoon and was immediately met by
Lt. General Thomas J. Trapnell, Chief of the U.S. MAAG
in Vietnam. He had been advised of the problem by
Clark, and had rushed to the airport to insure that we
received proper treatment. We were permitted to leave
the airport without incident; after some discussion with
General Trapnell, we went to a hotel, agreeing to meet
with the general at his headquarters early Monday
morning.
At the morning meeting, arrangements for the
reception of the aircraft, billeting of the aircrews,.
and the operational concept for the utilization of
C-119's were reviewed with General Trapnell. The
initial landing of the aircraft was to be at Nha Trang,
a major military base on the east coast.. Billeting was
readily available for the crews. Maintenance of the
aircraft was to be provided for by a detachment from
the 315th Air Division sent down from their base at
Tachikawa in Japan. The meeting broke up with the
understanding that General Trapnell would contact the
CAT men as soon as word was received that the first
plane was en route.
The CAT men were at lunch at a small French cafe
when a hot and perspiring Air Force sergeant appeared.
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Apparently he had been scouting the neighborhood try-
ing to locate them. The first C-119 was reported by
Clark to be on its way. General Trapnell was proceed-
ing to the airfield and asked that the CAT men meet
him there, which, of course, they promptly did. The
CAT C-46 had developed minor engine trouble, so it was
decided to use the Air Force Attache's plane for the
flight to Nha Trang. Despite the urgencies of the
emergency in Indochina, French officialdom refused to
give up their beloved siesta, which usually lasted for
about two hours after a heavy lunch. It took almost
two hours for General Trapnell to track down an of-
ficial authorized to grant clearance for the aircraft
to take off. This afforded one of several opportu-
nities that Cox has had to witness and enjoy the strong
and forceful language which our senior generals can
employ when the occasion requires.
The party arrived at Nha Trang in the late after-
noon, and the first C-119 landed shortly before dusk.
The other five planes followed at fairly regular
intervals; by the next morning all six aircraft and
aircrews were in position and ready to go.
General Cabell and many other experienced Air
Force officers still insisted that this could not be
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done within the time reference permitted for training
aircrews on a totally unfamiliar sophisticated air-
craft. It was done, and Cox believes it was one of
the finest of many fine performances put forward by CAT
in response to national requirements.
On I May 1953, a personal cable was received from
Mr. Dulles and General Cabell, which in part read as
follows:
"We wish to congratulate Cox and CAT
organization for their superior performance
in meeting emergency requirements in French
Indo-China. State, Defense and others con-
cerned in this operation have been greatly
impressed by the motivation, organizational
flexibility and "Can Do" spirit which has
been displayed by CAT. We wish you the bet
of luck in carrying out this assignment.":L/
The planes were integrated smoothly into the
French aerial support operations and flew continuously
throughout the spring. Flights were made all over
Indochina, with the aircraft landing when conditions
permitted and a suitable airstrip was available.
Otherwise, delivery was made by airdrop. There were
occasional instances of light ground fire, and a few
hits by small caliber ammunition, which did little or
no damage. By the end of the summer the Viet Minh
offensive towards the Plic des Jarres had been
stopped and turned back. This represented a victory,
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albeit a limited one, because everyone knew that the
Viet Minh would be back in 1954, and probably in
stronger and more effective force than they had avail-
able in 1953.
As anticipated, and as soon as weather and ground
conditions permitted, the Viet Minh did come on ever
more strongly in early 1954. In March, a cable from
Headquarters asked whether CAT could undertake to
operate 12 C-119's which meant doubling the effort put
forward in 1953. Fortunately, we had assigned 12 first-
rate pilots for the operation of the 6 aircraft in 1953,
which meant that we had qualified and experienced
captains available for 12 planes, and had the much more
simple task of coming up with 12 adequate copilots.
Some recruitment of copilots had been going on during
the winter, and we were able to provide 12 crews on
relatively short notice and without the strain encoun-
tered the previous year.
Initially, the aircraft were deployed in very much
the same operational pattern that had been used in 1953.
As the ground campaign began to develop, however, it
became apparent that the major objective of the Viet
Minh was the seizure of Dien Dien Phu. This was a
French airbase consisting of two major air strips.
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However, the ground routes of communication were ex-
tremely vulnerable and were rather quickly severed by
the Viet Minh, leaving Dien Bien Phu isolated and com-
pletely dependent on aerial supply of personnel and
material. As the situation grew worse, all 12 of the
C-119's were concentrated at CAT BI Airport in Haiphong
and operated continuously in support of Dien Bien Phu.
The Viet Minh completely encircled the two air-
strips, and by early April were able to place such heavy
artillery fire on the airstrips as to make further land-
ing of aircraft impossible. From then, until the
fortress fell, all resupply was by airdrop. The main-
tenance being provided by the 315th Air Division
Detachment was good; on any given day, the French
could plan that 11 of the 12 aircraft would be avail-
able for one sortie per day per aircraft. The pattern
of operation that developed was caused by the prevail-
ing weather conditions. Normally, drops could be made
only from perhaps 1100 to 1400 hours local time. The
drops were preceded by strafing and bombing runs by
the French Air Force in an effort to drive the Viet
Minh gunnery crews away from their weapons. This would
be followed quickly by the first C-119, with the remain-
ing planes in the air coming in at five-minute intervals.
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The fighters and bombers would remain in the area look-
ing for targets of opportunity. However, this tactic
never really proved effective. In effect, the first
plane over the DZ was in the safest position, as the
Viet Minh, who had taken cover, had not yet been aisle
to get their weapons into operation. The toughest
assignment fell to the planes at the end of the line,
which would catch the brunt of ground fire.
With General Trapnell's assistance, numerous dis-
cussions were held with the French High Command and with
the commanding general of the French Air Forces in Indo-
china, in an effort to devise more effective tactics
for the suppression of ground fire while the aircraft
were over the DZ. The USAF was also queried as to any
suggestions that they might have to offer. But, although
we felt that the French Air Force was doing its best to
provide adequate air support, nothing was developed
that materially, improved the situation.
As the defense perimeter of the garrison steadily
shrank in size, the intensity of ground fire increased.
There were reports in various
that the Viet Minh were using
artillery against the C-119!s.
crews involved, nor Rousselot
12
newspapers at the time
radar controlled AA
Neither the aircraft
or Cox believed that this
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was true.. With the DZ rapidly assuming the relative
proportions of a postage stamp, and with the wind direc-
tion and velocity easily determinable, it was relatively
easy to determine the point in the air at which the
cargo must be released if it were to strike within the
French lines. Release at other points would simply
mean a free gift of supplies to the Viet Minh. The
Viet Minh, by setting up a cone of fire, could con-
centrate that fire in the area through which the plane
must pass.
As, day after day, the flight crews were called on
to fly against ever-increasing opposition, it was neces-
sary to watch their health and morale closely, and to
provide as much time off for rest and recreation as
possible. All in all, their morale stood up sur-
prisingly well. More grumbling, if any, was voiced
against the operations of the French commercial air-
lines, which were also participating in the aerial re-
supply, and which persisted in releasing their cargoes
at an altitude thousands of feet above that at which
our planes operated. Our aircrews considered the risk
of being hit by a heavy container was as great as that
of being hit by flak.
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On
17 April 1954,
(W(1)
repeated (b)(3)
2/
back to
- from the U.S. Air Attache,
Taipei,
to the Department
of the Air Force. The (WO )
(bO)
attache's cable noted factors adversely affecting the
morale of the CAT aircrews, as learned from discussions
with Rousselot, and recommended the assignment of an
Air Force officer as a member of the CAT crews for the
purpose of collecting air intelligence. Headquarters
requested that Cox investigate the adverse morale
factors noted by the attache and report fully on them,
with recommendations for any action that might be
beneficial.
Cox immediately proceeded to Saigon, pausing en
route at Haiphong for discussions with the pilots, in
order to insure that he was fully aware of the nature
and seriousness of the grievances. One complaint was
that, due to the inefficiency of the French loading
procedures, the aircraft were limited to one sortie
per day. With efficient procedures, the number of
sorties per day could be readily doubled. Their major
complaint still remained that the inordinately high-
altitude, scattered dropping by the French commercial
aircraft presented more of a threat than did the flak.
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.In Saigon, Trapnell and Cox met again with the
French High Command and reviewed all of the known
grievances. There was no doubt that the French were
doing all that they could to try to improve air support
for the drop operations, but they just did not .have the
equipment or the skilled flight crews to resolutely
press for flak-suppression efforts.
Cox reported fully on the discussions to Head-
quarters, noting that even the USAF officers consulted
were unable to come forth with any really meaningful
answers. General Cabell, in a memorandum 0/ to the
Chairman, Jbint Chiefs of Staff, advised of the Saigon
discussions, and quoted the personal observations of
the president of the airline as follows:
"It is believed that the effective accom-
plishment of the French promises has con-
siderably improved pilot morale; however, cases
of combat fatigue and losses must be expected.
To counter this possibility somewhat, an im-
mediate rotation system to try to give a well
.earned rest to the pilots who are carrying the
major effort will be instituted. However,
there is a shortage of crews and it is planned
to hire additional personnel in order to make
such rotation effective.
The living conditions of, the pilots are
adequate and the flying hours are not out of
reason except in terms of minutes over'drop
zones. The majority of the missions have been
to carry military supplies. The importance of
fulfilling tile contracts has been explained
to all CAT pilots. Although these pilots are
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of high caliber, the strain on them is tremendous
and a major effort on the part of CAT manage-
ment will be needed to keep them going.
It should be noted that the Far East Air
Force Detachment under Major Yarborough has
been cooperating very Closely with CAT, and is
doing a good job. However, Major Yarborough
is handicapped by a lack of orders from Washing-
ton authorizing an increase of supply levels and
night maintenance."
As the Operation continued, bullet holes began to
appear with increasing regularity on the fuselages of
the aircraft. On 24 April, a C-119 piloted by chief
pilot Paul Holden (Captain Rousselot had been promoted
to a position as chief of operations) was hit by a
burst of flak in the area immediately behind the seats
of the pilot and copilot. A number of fragments lodged
in Holden's right arm, side, and buttocks. First Officer
Wallace Buford took over control of the aircraft, which
was almost unmanageable, and he landed safely at the
Haiphong Airport. French doctors wanted to amputate
Holden's arm, but he insisted on transfer to the USAF
hospital at Clark Field, Manila. After many days of
observation and treatment, his arm was pronounced
salvageable and he was transferred to medical facil-
it,ies in Japan, where he began to recuperate faster
than at first thought possible. In about four months,
he was fully recovered and restored to flight duty.
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Kong
over
been
On 6 May 1954, the writer received word in Hong
that a C-119 had been seriously damaged by flak
Dien Bien Phu and that, although the plane had
able to leave the immediate area, it had crashed
while trying to make its way back to Haiphong. The
crew were Captain James B. McGovern and First Officer
Wallace Buford and they, as well as the French dis-
patchers in the rear of the aircraft, were presumed
to have been killed in the crash. Cox immediately
proceeded by CAT C-46 to Haiphong. In the meantime,
the French had agreed to a 24-hour standdown of C-119
operations.
(NOTE: The late Mr. Fall, highly regarded as an
expert on Southeast Asia, stated in one of his recent
publications that the CAT crews had gone on strike
immediately after the McGovern crash. This was not
true. The 24-hour standdown was by order of the
president of CAT. The writer was intending to cor-
respond with Mr. Fall on this when the newspapers
announced that Mr. Fall had been killed by the ex-
plosion of a land mine.)
The details
McGovern's plane
tion in the line
of the crash were as
was in approximately
of C-119's that were
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follows:
the fifth posi-
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that day. His plane had taken severe hits by flak,
with one engine disabled. He had managed to leave the
area, but the plane became increasingly unmanageable
and was not able to maintain altitude. Two of the
other C-119's fell in alongside of the crippled plane,
hoping to help McGovern by at least, if necessary,
spotting a suitable place for a crash landing. Captain
Steve Kusak, in one of the planes, had a camera with
him with which he took several pictures of the C-119
in flight and eventually of its crash. The crews of
the two escorting planes apparently kept up a stream
of radio contact with McGovern, until he asked them to
please shut up, that he was haVing enough difficulty
just trying to manage the aircraft without responding
to them at the same time. The plane narrowly cleared
an extended ridge, and McGovern spotted a sand spit in
the middle of a small river similar to the one on which
he had made a successful crash landing in China in
December 1949, and he decided to make a similar attempt.
Coming within a few feet of the ground, the left wing
of the aircraft caught the side of the steep bank, and
the .plane immediately crashed and burst into flame.
The two escorting planes circled the wrecked ship
looking for any sign of survivors. In the meantime,
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Haiphong was hurriedly gearing up a helicopter oper-
ation for a possible rescue Mission. After a hurried
debriefing of the crews of the escorting planes, who had
seen no sign of survivors and who doubted that anyone
could have survived, the helicopter operation was
cancelled.
Kusak reported that McGovern's last words were,
"Looks like this is it, son."
McGovern, known throughout the Far East as
"Earthquake McGoon," was one of the truly fabulous
characters in the area. His weight ranged from close
to 300 pounds down to the 185 pounds, which is what he
weighed when he emerged from Communist China in 1950,
after having been held a prisoner for six months. His
zest for life and his vitality were as enormous as his
physical frame, and probably no one will ever know in
full the unpublicized wide range of his activities in
behalf of penniless Chinese orphans and other works
of good will. First Officer Buford had been with the
airline for only a few months, but was already very
highly regarded by his associates_ It would be hard
to _imagine any single event that could have been as
bitter a blow to the morale of everyone in the airline,
as well as the shock to innumerable persons on the
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outside who had come to know McGovern.
Immediately upon Cox's arrival in Haiphong, he
met with all the flight personnel at the CAT billet.
Their morale was understandably at a very low level,
and at first it was doubtful that they would be willing
to continue with the operations. The writer reviewed
with them in detail the reasons for our participation
in the effort in Indochina and its importance in the
national interest of the United States, and said that,
although the men were operating as private individuals
for a commercial company, they were in actuality flying
for the U.S. Government in support of the French. Cox
told them that it would be perfectly understandable if
any one of them decided that he could no longer con-
tinue, but Cox stipulated that anyone who reached that
decision must be prepared to leave the area immediately,
for Cox did not think it appropriate or fair for them
to remain in Haiphong while others continued with the
mission. At the time, Cox did not indicate whether any
individual so deciding would have continued employment
with CAT in other areas, as Cox had not yet made up his
own mind on that point. Cox then closed the meeting by
stating that he would be in his room, in order to meet
privately with any individual who so desired. During
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the long afternoon that followed, only one officer
called on him. He was an old captain, married, and
with a family. He told Cox he felt, particularly in
view of his family obligations, that he could not bring
himself to continue. He also stated he felt that, in
fairness to the others, he should sever his connections
with the airline Completely, and not accept an easier
assignment elsewhere. Cox thanked him for his honest
expression of his convictions and for his valued efforts
on behalf of the airline during his years of association
with it. The officer said he wa's prepared to leave
immediately on the next aircraft out. Ironically, this
officer later accepted employment with the Korean
National Airways and, while on -a routine domestic flight
in South Korea, had his plane hijacked by two armed
passengers and forced to land in North Korea, where
the crew and passengers were promptly interned by the
North Koreans. Fortunately, the release Of the plane
and its personnel were negotiated through the truce.
committee.
All the remaining flight personnel indicated their
willingness to continue the operation, and late
that evening all assembled at CAT Bi Airport for pre-
flight briefing. Cox had determined that, in all
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fairness but not in all eagerness, he would accompany
one of the aircraft, since he felt that CAT management
had to show on occasion that it was willing to accept
a little of the risk so routinely imposed on the crews.
As the flight was assembling, a French lieutenant
colonel, weeping, came over and told us that Dien Bien
Phu had just fallen.
Solemn memorial services were held at every CAT
installation throughout the Far East, and were liberally
attended by many of the friends of CAT and of the
deceased. And thus ended one of the most gallant oper-
ations in the long and varied history of CAT.
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LIST 02 REFERENCES TAB X
INDOCHINA. LIMITED VICTORY IN 1953 - DIEN BIEN PER
AND DISASTER IN 1954
1. Cable to
Secret, dated
2. Cable to
Secret, dated
1 May 1953.
OUT 58165.
Info DIR, SSAIG, Cite
17 April 1954. IN 38136.
(b)(1)
Cite TriP
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
3. Memorandum for Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (W(1)
from DDCI, Subject: Operating Conditions of (b)(3) �
Civil Air Transport Pilots in Indochina, dated
12 April 1954, Secret, DD/p 9882.
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TAB L
THE CATHAY-PACIFIC (CPA) INCIDENT
On the morning of 23 July 1954, Cox and Rousselot
flew in a CAT C-46 from Hong Kong to Haiphong. The
plane passed five or six miles to the south of Hainan
Island and, as was customary, both the Sanya Airport
and Yulin Harbor were checked for unusual activity. It
was noted that there were two planes on the strip at
Sanya and no unusual activity at Yulin. Approximately
two hours later, a CPA Skymaster bound for Hong Kong
from Singapore and Bangkok was deliberately shot down
by two Chinese fighter planes about ten miles east of
the International Air Corridor line off Hainan Island.
The bullet-riddled plane carried ten 'persons to their
death, including three Americans and two crew members,
when it was ditched in a rough sea after two of its
engines caught fire. Eight wounded survivors, includ-
ing three Americans were (b)(3)
flown to Hong Kong by a USAF rescue plane, which had
been dispatched from a USAF carrier force in the
vicinity. During the rescue operation, two U.S. carrier
planes shot down two Chinese Communist fighters while
the Americans were searching for survivors of the CPA
aircraft.
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In Haiphong, Cox was advised of the tragic incident,
and that the Hong Kong authorities requested his immediate
return to Hong Kong for talks with regard to the Commu-
nist attack. Cox and Rousselot immediately flew back to
Hong Kong, again passing just a few miles south of
Hainan Island, and again noting no signs of unusual
activity. In retrospect, this was probably due to the
presence of the Navy Task Force in the area.
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
On arrival in Hong Kong, Cox, as the president of
the airline, immediately met with Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Macintosh, and with the Director of Civil
Aviation Mr. Muspratt-Williams. It was obvious that
the entire Hong Kong Government could not understand
why. a British CPA airline' had had a plane shot down
when CAT, a ChiNat airline, was flying identical routes
day after day. Cox was asked to produce a model of his
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aircraft flying the route, in order to determine whether
or not the shooting down of the plane had been one of
mistaken aircraft identification. Fortunately, the
Traffic and Sales Department of CAT in Hong Kong had
such a model immediately available, and it was studied
in detail by the Commissioner and Mr. Muspratt-Williams.
It was evident that the coloring and lettering on the
CAT and CPA planes were entirely dissimilar and, with
the exception of the fact that CPA began with the three
letters C-A-T, there was no reason for assuming that
the Chinese Communists thought they were attacking a
CAT instead of a CPA plane. The British authorities,
extremely anxious to avoid incidents with the Chinese
Communists, did their best to try to prove that the
attack was meant to be against a CAT aircraft, rather
than against a CPA aircraft.
It was a matter of common knowledge at the time
that Ambassador William Donovan, the U.S. Ambassador
to Thailand, was expected to come to Hong Kong on that
date, 23 July 1954. As a matter of fact, he arrived
two days later via CAT aircraft. The British author-
ities searched for every possible excuse to show that
the attack might have been meant to be against CAT,
or against a CAT passenger such as Ambassador Donovan,
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but finally had to conclude that there was no such
basis in fact. The Communists expressed regret at the
shooting, and said they were considering paying damages
and compensation for the loss of lives. In the mean-
time, Cox announced that scheduled flights would con-
tinue as usual.
The incident was not without its repercussions.
One of the Americans who had been killed in the crash,
trying to save his daughters, was a Captain Maupin, a
former CNAC pilot who, with a few others, had been
instrumental in training the Indonesian Air Force in
the Indonesian struggle for independence.
Shortly after the shooting down of the CPA air-
craft, a former CNAC pilot, Captain Perry "Moe"
Cutburth, who had been involved in the training of the
Indonesian Air Force, returned to Hong Kong determined
to fly to Hainan Island, in order to ascertain whether
or not Captain Maupin had been killed. The consul
general, Mr. Julian Harrington, did his best to con-
vince Cutburth that such an adventure would be fruit-
less. Harrington called Cox and requested that he also
try to dissuade Cutburth. Cox and Rosbert met for
lunch with Cutburth and, after the problem was discussed
in detail Cutburth agreed to abandon his proposal.
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Unknown to Cox at the time, and not until he
undertook the research for this paper, the consul
general requested
to send a cable to the DCI in which he expressed his
appreciation for the efforts and assistance of Cox,
specifically in the CPA incident, and also on many
other occasions. The Director replied with a very
polite cable indicating that he was happy to know that
his representatives in the field were of service to
the. State Department and other U.S. agencies. Cox was
never aware of this until recently, but he is grateful
to Mr. Harrington.
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LIST OF REFERENCES TAB L
THE CATHAY-PACIFIC (CPA) INCIDENT
1. Cable,
Routine, Secret.
Cable DIR to
12700, dated 11 August
to DIR, dated 3 August 1954,
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Routine,
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TABM
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2
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3
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( b ) ( 1
( b ) ( 3
4
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(b)(
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB M
(b)(
(b)(
1)
3)
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Tb
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TABN
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
SECRE T
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2
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(b
(b
3
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(b
(b
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LIST OF REFERENCES
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TAB N
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TAB 0
CAT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC OPERATIONS -- SCHEDULED
AND NON-SCHEDULED
International Operations--Scheduled
In the immediate post-World War II era, Shanghai
had occupied a position as the center of the inter-
national aviation activities in the Far Eastern area.
With its fall, followed by the complete collapse of
mainland China, a new pattern of international activ-
ity had to develop. For various reasons, no single air
center was able to fully take over the role previously
held by Shanghai. Hong Kong was handicapped by the lack
of a suitable airport and by restrictions which limited
use of the airport to daylight hours only. As a result
of this and other circumstances, three air centers
emerged to take over the central role once played by
Shanghai. These were Tokyo, Manila, and Bangkok.
During the period from its first flights in January
1947 until the defection of CNAC/CATC in November 1949,
CAT had been concerned entirely with non-scheduled oper-
ations, mainly domestic flights within the geographic
confines of China. There had been occasional inter-
national charter activities, such as the airlift of
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tin ore from Meng-tze to Hanoi and Haiphong.
With CNAC/CATC out of
(although purchased by the
Corcoran interests) frozen
litigation, CAT became the
operation and their assets
Chennault, Willauer,
pending the outcome of
only airline capable of fly-
ing scheduled international operations and carrying the
Nationalist flag. CAT was urged by the Nationalist
Government to undertake to build up international
rights into other countries, which under normal circum-
stances would more probably have been turned over to
CNAC or to CATC. In trying to develop a scheduled
international operation, it was found that each country
or area involved presented differing problems, largely
of a political nature.
Hong Kong
It was considered,
step toward development
be to establish landing
quite properly, that the initial
of international routes would
rights in Hong Kong. The avi-
ation situation in Hong Kong was a peculiar one. There
were two major British companies that were interested
in international aviation. One was Jardine-Matheson,
and the other Butterfield and Swire. Jardine-Matheson
owned a relatively small airline known as Hong Kong
Airways. Butterfield and Swire owned a slightly
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larger airline, with more modern equipment, known as
Cathay-Pacific Airways. Amongst themselves, the
British aviation interests decided that Hong Kong Air-
ways would have franchise rights from Hong Kong to the
north; that is to Taiwan, Okinawa, Japan, and Korea.
Cathay-Pacific Airways would have the rights for oper-
ating from Hong Kong to the south; that is, to Manila,
Saigon, Bangkok, and Singapore, with the right to con-
tinue on to Indonesia, if justified by the volume of
business, and if agreement could be reached with the
Indonesian Government.
Technically, when the British Government recog-
nized the Chinese Communist Government on 6 January 1950
and withdrew recognition from the Nationalist Govern-
ment, there was no diplomatic machinery available with
which to pursue the subject of reciprocal landing
rights between Taipei and Hong Kong. As a matter of
political expediency, negotiation of these rights was
placed by the Chinese Nationalist Government in the
hands of Chennault and Willauer, and by the Hong Kong
Government in the hands of Sir John Keswick, one of the
larger stockholders in the Jardine-Matheson Company.
There was, therefore, a rather unusual situation, in
which diplomatic negotiations were being conducted by
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private businessmen with the tacit approval of their
respective governments. Since there was a considerable
amount of passenger and cargo traffic between Taipei
and Hong Kong, an exchange of mutual rights for CAT
and Hong Kong Airways was not difficult to arrange.
From the business point of view, CAT obtained a far
greater volume of business between Taipei and Hong
Kong than did Hong Kong Airways. From time to time,
the British authorities and Jardine-Matheson made
motions indicating that they would insist that the
available traffic between the two points be equally
shared between the two airlines, thereby requiring CAT
to turn over some of their considerable business to
Hong Kong Airways. These motions were more of a
harassing nature than anything else, and since, fortu-
nately, CAT management enjoyed excellent relationships
with the Hong Kong civil aviation authorities, and
since Willauer had excellent relationships with the two
Keswick brothers, the problem was one with more of a
nuisance value than with any real threat against CAT's
legitimate business efforts.
Japan
Under the terms of the Potsdam Agreement of World
War 11, which prevented Japan from operating its own
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airline, the occupation authorities, Supreme Command
Allies Pacific (SCAP), had granted international rights
into Tokyo to several majoroairlines and countries,
including China. With the defection of the CNAC Air-
line, CAT inherited the air rights to operate into
Tokyo. At the end of the occupation, the Japanese
Government immediately set about negotiating air agree-
ments with various countries and, at the same time,
established their own domestic!and international air-
line, Japan Airline (JAL). A Sino-Japanese air agree-
ment was rather speedily negotiated, and CAT continued
its air operations into Tokyo Without interruption.
CAT was also able to negotiate for additional landing
rights at Kagashima, and at Iwakuni, on one of the
southern islands of Japan.
Bangkok
With excellent relationships existing between the
ChiNat and Thai Governments, informal traffic rights
between Taipei and Bangkok were not difficult to ar-
range. The Thai Government desired that their inter-
national airline, at that time (1950) known as Pacific
Overseas Airways of Siam (POAS), include Taipei on
their scheduled flights between Bangkok and Tokyo.
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In early 1951 CAT, designated as the authorized
agent of the Chinese Nationalist Government under the
Sino-Thailand Civil Air Agreement, began negotiating
with officials of the Thai Government for formal recog-
nition of CAT's scheduled rights. On 4 November 1951,
CAT made an inaugural flight to Bahgkok, with a number
of newspaper correspondents as invited guests. The
first fully regularized schedule flight was made into
Bangkok on 2 December 1951.
Since CAT could not onload passengers and cargo at
Hong Kong for Bangkok, reliance had to be placed on
generating traffic at points north of Hong Kong, such
as Taipei and Tokyo. The scheduled flights into
Bangkok made on a one-a-week basis, were not profit-
able ones for the company; they were' continued, with
some urging by the ChiNat Government, mainly to show
their flag in Southeast Asia.
Korea
When the CATI interests purchased CNAC and CATC
in late 1949, they automatically became possessors of
all of the assets of the two companies, including all
international scheduled rights that they held. CATI
was not in a position to operate any franchise;
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therefore, in return for services rendered to it by
CAT, all of the physical assets on Taiwan, and all
franchises held by CNAC and CATC were transferred to
CAT. Among these franchises were the scheduled oper-
ating rights into Korea formerly held by CNAC. CAT
planned to make their first scheduled flight into
Seoul on 28 June 1950. However, on 25 June 1950, the
North Korean Communists crossed the 38th Parallel, and
Seoul's International Airport, Kimpo, fell on the
night of 29 June. In effect, the conflict cancelled
all existing franchises.
In 1952 CAT resumed negotiations for rights into
Korea, and an interline arrangement was made with Korean
National Airways which permitted CAT to operate into
Pusan on a scheduled basis. The airline agreement
between the Chinese and South Korean Governments was
signed on 26 March 1952, and CAT made its initial
flight to Pusan on 30 March. In September 1954, Seoul
was designated by the South Korean Government as an
international port of entry, and CAT's scheduled rights
into Pusan were shifted to Seoul. The inaugural flight
to .Seoul was made on 8 September 1954.
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Manila
At the urging of CAT, the Chinese Nationalist
Government concluded an air agreement with the Govern-
ment of the Philippines for the operation of a Taipei-
Manila route. CAT was designated by the Chinese Govern-
ment as the authorized airline to operate this route,
and the Philippine Government designated the inter-
national carrier, the Philippine Airlines (PAL), as
their carrier to operate on the route. A survey flight
was made from Taipei to Manila on 26 June 1952, and
shortly thereafter regularly scheduled operations were
begun.
Okinawa
While the Allied Occupation of Japan and the Ryukyu
Islands was in effect, CAT had little difficulty in
operating in an out of Naha, the international port of
entry for Okinawa. (All Booklift flights (W(1)
operated in and out of Kadena Air Force Base.) When
the Occupation was lifted, negotiations were speedily
undertaken with the local government, and CAT was
granted scheduled rights in and out of Okinawa, a
logical stopping point between Taipei and Japan. A
considerable amount of revenue was generated by the CAT
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station there, Particularly from American military
personnel and their families going to Hong Kong on
R&R.
Singapore
Very little thought or attention was given to the
possibility of establishing CAT's Tights into Singapore,
since the restriction on picking up passengers out of
Hong Kong to the south would have made such scheduled
flights quite unprofitable.
Indochina
Efforts to establish reciprocal rights between
Saigon and Taipei were constantly negated by the French.
In the first place, their regional airlines operating out
of Saigon were not particularly interested in rights into
Taipei, since the volume of traffic between the two points
was not considered sufficient to justify such scheduled
flights. Also the French, in view of the political situ-
ation and the military threat, with the Chinese Communists
right on their northern border, were not willing to have
an airline bearing the Nationalist Chinese flag operat-
ing in and out of Saigon on a scheduled basis.
Several attempts were made to obtain the active
interest of Ambassador Donald R. Heath in CAT's behalf,
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but to little avail. It appeared to the CAT officials
that the Ambassador was unwilling actively to support
anything which'might endanger his relationship with the
French. It was noted that during the periods in which
the Ambassador was absent from his post, the counselor
of the Embassy, Mr. Robert McClintock, was much more
interested and active in CAT affairs.
With the armistice and cease-fire in July 1954,
and the subsequent division of Indochina into the four
independent states of North Vietnam, South Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Laos, the field recommended strongly to
Headquarters that they be given permission to explore
the possibilities of entering the aviation picture in
the new countries of Cambodia and Laos. Headquarters
checked this out with the Department of State, and
then advised the field that they were authorized to
make such exploratory contacts. The field was also
advised that the newly appointed Ambassador to Cambodia,
Ambassador Robert McClintock, who had previously been
Counselor of the Embassy in Saigon, had been briefed in
Washington as to the U.S. Government interest in CAT's
behalf.
On 4 October 1954, a delegation of CAT officials,
consisting of Messrs. George Doole, John Mason,
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Var Green, and Cox met with Ambassador McClintock in
Pnom Penh. Through the Ambassador, arrangements were
made to informally call on Mr. Kim Tit, the Privy
Councilor to the King. The Ambassador accompanied
Doole and Cox to the meeting. Tit was receptive to the
general proposals, and advised that he would contact
the Prime Minister. The Ambassador arranged for a meet-
ing and, after an initial discussion, the Prime Minister
requested that a general letter of proposal be submitted.
It was prepared and submitted as soon as possible. It
expressed the following:
a. CAT's interest in the furtherance of
Cambodian civil aviation.
b. An offer by CAT to provide all physical
assets, personnel and capital required to estab-
lish a small airline to operate domestic routes
initially and then international routes to Saigon.
Bangkok and Laos. The letter explained why
Cambodian capital should not participate initially,
due to the unquestionable losses to be incurred
during the period of establishment of the airlines.
A loophole was left open for possible Cambodian
participation when the airline was considered at
a break-even or profitable point.
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c. The letter closed with an invitation
to Cambodian capital to establish travel
services in Asia, and with polite congratu-
lations On Cambodia's attainment of independence.
The CAT officials discussed with Ambassador
McClintock the possible impact of Mr. Moe Cutburth's
attempt to establish a foothold in Cambodia. Cutburth
was President of Aviation International Ltd. The
Ambassador stated that he would insure that proper
Cambodian officials were aware of the proposals sub-
mitted by CAT, and that the U.S. feeling was that they
should support CAT rather than Aviation International.
Headquarters instructed CAT to amend its earlier
proposals by making further specific statements con-
cerning CAT's willingness to train Cambodian aircrews,
technicians, communications specialists, etc.
On 7 October 1954, Doole and Cox met with Minister
Charles W. Yost and his staff in Vientiane. They were
advised that Air Laos (49 percent owned by Aigle Azur,
a Paris company with Laotians owning majority control)
had been formally granted a monopoly for both domestic
and, international air operations several months earlier.
The only exception was that the Government of Laos
could permit another airline to provide any services
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that Air Laos was unwilling or unable to provide.
Minister Yost indicated that there had been certain
requirements for transportation, particularly for
members of the Tripartite Peace Commission, which thus
far had not been made available. He indicated that he
would watch this situation and that, if it seemed that
an offer to fill any such gap might be accepted, he
would promptly notify CAT management.
1/
The CAT group then returned to Saigon� , where
Cox and Mason met with Colonel Edward G. Lansdale (on
assignment to CIA) at his residence. Lansdale, who had
done an outstanding job with President Magsaysay of the
Philippines, had recently come to South Vietnam in an
effort to establish a similar relationship with Presi-
dent Diem. His possible needs for '
transportation
were discussed, and arrangements made so that all of his
requirements would be promptly serviced.
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At the end of 1954, there was little in the way
f progress that could be reported. It seemed more and
more evident that the French had a firm foothold in the
aviation picture in both Cambodia and Laos. It was Cox's
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feeling that the only possibility that might open up
would be if Lansdale were able to establish himself as
firmly with President Diem as he had with President
Magsaysay. If Diem became more and more disillusioned
with the French, there might be a possibility for CAT
to move into the picture.
International Operations--Non-Scheduled
A considerable amount of CAT's revenue was gained
from contract and charter operations conduced on a non-
scheduled basis. These varied from long-range contracts
involving many aircraft and crews, to a single plane
operation that might last only a few hours. Signifi-
cant examples of such contracts or charters are as
follows:
1. BOOKLIFT: This was a crash contract
with the USAF entered into in September 1950,
at a time when the fortunes of the UN forces
in Korea were going very badly. Although it
had leveled off to a considerable extent as
time passed, it continued in being and pro-
vided a very valuable asset to CAT, not only
in terms of the revenue involved,
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3/
. 2. OPERATION RAILHEAD:- The two main
islands of New Zealand, North and South Islands,
are separated by Cook Strait, approximately 70
miles wide. Water traffic between the two
islands was subject to frequent delays, often
caused by waterfront strikes. The New Zealand
Government Railways decided to overcome these
delays by using air cargo carriers, and con-
tracted with Straits Air Freight Express, Ltd.
(SAFE) for such service. SAFE placed orders in
England for specially modified Bristol freighters,
but delivery could not be made for several months.
SAFE then contracted with CAT to furnish three,
later four, C-46 aircraft to provide the service.-4/
-
The flights commenced in May 1951, and
operated between Paraparamu Airport on North
Island and Woodbourne Airport, the base on
South Island. Both airbases were near rail-
heads. In three months of operations, CAT
planes flew 17 million pounds of cargo across
Cook Strait, flying 96,000 miles in 1300
crossings./
Outstanding features of this charter oper-
ation were the extraordinarily warm relationship
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that developed between CAT personnel and the
New Zealand people, as attested to by letters
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and newspaper articles;� and the fact that on
all flights between Taiwan and New Zealand
revenue cargoes were located that helped to
cover the costs of what would have otherwise
been non-revenue flights.
Consideration was given to trying further
to develop this relationship, but the idea was
dropped because of the great distance between
the home base at Tainan and New Zealand, the
fact that SAFE was obtaining its own aircraft,
and the small operational interest in New
Zealand.
3. The HADJ PILGRIMAGE: Hundreds of
thousands of Moslems make the annual pilgrimage
to Mecca for religious ceremonies held between
28 August and 1 September. They come from all
parts of the globe and use all means of trans-
portation. In July 1953, a snip carrying
hundreds of Moslems from Indonesia caught fire,
leaving the pilgrims stranded. The Indonesian
Government, fearing wholesale suicides, particu-
larly by the older people who might never have
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another opportunity to make the Ha.dj , negotiated
with CAT to provide air transport' for the pilgrims
from Djakarta to Jidda.2/ Four C-46's were pro-
vided for the round trip.�
Since the aircraft would be idle for several
weeks, while awaiting the return trip, CAT manage-
ment decided to use this time to explore possible
aviation opportunities in the Mideast. As German
nationals have excellent acceptance in the Arab
countries, Mr. Max Springweiler of CAT Traffic
and Sales was selected to accompany the aircraft
and to report in detail on his observations. He
was later joined by Mr. Saul Marias, Assistant
General Counsel of CAT.
A number of charter opportunities were
developed. In the first three weeks of August,
450 passengers and 99,000 pounds of cargo were
airlifted from Damascus-Beirut to the Persian
Gulf. Between 28 July and 13 Septenber, 16
charter flights were made for the Sheik Prince
of Kuwait: The large oil installations appeared
to have considerable requirements for airlift,
and there were demands throughout the desert
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areas for fresh fruit and vegetables. �
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The report prepared by Spr,ingweiler and
Marias was studied by the CAT Executive Com-
mittee in Washington and by the board of
directors. A decision was made against any CAT
expansion into the Mideast, mainly based again
on the distance from the main CAT operational
area in the Far East, although it'was admitted
that an aviation opportunity appeared to exist
in the Mideast, and that operational require-
ments in .the area were quite possibly forth-
coming.
Consideration was also given to attempting
to capitalize on the good will gained with the
Indonesian Government as a result of CAT's
prompt. response to their call for assistance,
but continued intransigence on the part of a
few key Indonesian Government officials, coup-led
with foreign exchange difficulties., soon ruled
out the idea. (Payment for the Hadj flights
was, long delayed.)
4. OPERATION REPAT: After the,Li Mi forces
failed in their attempt to fight their way back
into China by moving from Thailand north across
the Burma-China border, about two thousand troops
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settled on the Thai-Burma border, where they
became a constant irritant to both countries.
In mid-1953 they
were encouraged to indicate to the United
Nations their willingness to be repatriated to
Taiwan. A UN Commission contracted with CAT to
provide airlift from a strip at Lampang in
northern Thailand to Taipei. (Funds, of course,
were provided by the United States, which caused
considerable embarrassment because of the rather
common knowledge of its participation in the
10/
abortive Li Mi drive.)
In the first phase of the operation, 2200
troops and their dependents were evacuated by
11/
mid-December 1953.� The operation was resumed
in mid-February 1954 with flights out of Chiang
Rai airfield; by I March, the total number
evacuated had reached 3100. The Chinese Govern-
ment arranged for suitable welcoming ceremonies
for the returnees and for their rehabilitation.
Unfortunately, not all of the troops elected
to repatriate -- it was more than suspected that
they had become profitably involved in the opium
trade. They have remained a thorn in the sides
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of the Thai and Burmese Governments to this day.
5. OPERATION COGNAC: With the Cease-fire
Agreement reached at Geneva after the fall of
Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, the USAF withdrew
the 12 C-119's which had been loaned to the French
and operated by CAT crews. The Agreement left
hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who were
unwilling to live under Communist domination in
the newly established North Vietnam, and the
French used every means of transportation avail-
able to assist their evacuation to South Vietnam.
On 17 August 1954, the French signed a contract
with CAT for the provision of airlift from Hanoi,
14/
and later Haiphong, to Saigon.� Twelve C-46's
were provided for this lift which ended on
4 October 1954. A total of 21,334 refugees
15/
were moved to the South.
There were approximately 40,000 Chinese
living in North Vietnam, and they came under
concentrated Communist propaganda campaigns-to
remain there. However, about 7,000 Chinese
registered with the Nationalist Chinese consulates
in the area, indicating their desire to move to
the South. The Chinese Nationalist Government
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chartered two C-46's from CAT, initially to fly
refugees from Hanoi to Haiphong, and then to
proceed by sea to Saigon.-16/ By 22 August, one
flight to Haiphong and 26 to Saigon had been made,
evacuating 1,526 Chinese. At that point, the much
larger French contract noted above took over,
handling both Vietnamese and Chinese citizens.17/
�
6. MISCELLANEOUS CONTRACTS: A great deal
of the charter business developed was of the
"one-shot" type, involving the movement of cargo
or passengers from point to point. The secret of
profitably accepting such charters lay in the
ability to line-up return loads to prevent the
loss involved in a non-revenue-producing return
trip. CAT Traffic and Sales developed consider-
able expertise in this, often making inter-
airline arrangements, and rarely did the planes
fly back empty.
A great deal of business was generated in
the movement of groups of all kinds.-- tourists,
.athletic teams, governmental and business
organizations, military R&R'ers and their
dependents, etc. Ship-owners often found it
more economical to fly a ship crew from one port
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to another, rather than to pay living costs while
the ship sat idle waiting to be loaded. Charters
took CAT far afield -- to Hamburg, Finland, the
Mideast, Indonesia, New Zealand, etc. On a
number of occasions, CAT participated in mercy
flights, flood relief flights, and the like.
Any complete listing of cargoes would indicate
'that often they were rather strange. A partial
listing of such would include flying tropical fish
from Hong Kong to Taiwan and Japan, a baby elephant
from Bangkok to Tokyo, day-old chicks from Hong
Kong to Taiwan, hundreds of heads of oxen from
Karachi to Bangkok, 795 canaries and budgerigars.
18/
from Hong Kong to Tokyo, snakes, monkeys, etc.
Fumigation and cleansing of the' aircraft some-
times presented a problem.
Domestic Operations--Scheduled
Shortly after evacuating completely from the main-
land to Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Government
requested that CAT establish a domestic schedule route
which was normally referred to as the "around the
island flight." The aircraft used was a C-47, since
normally the volume of business generated in any
particular day did not exceed a C-47's capacity. A
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daily flight was flown from Taipei to Hualien to
T'aitung to Tainan to Makung (in the Pescadores
Islands), and then returning to Taipei.
The two major stations on the route were Hualien,
which had difficult access because of its location on
the Mountainous east coast of Taiwan, and Tainan because
of the location of the CAT Maintenance Base there, and
its proximity to one of the major ports on the island,
Kaohsiung.
The "round the island flight" was not an eco-
nomical one, and annually represented a loss of revenue
to the company. However, it was considered imperative
that the route be continued for two reasons: first, it
was being flown at the request of the Chinese National-
ist Government, and noncompliance with the request
would have endangered the good relations with many
departments of the government; second, if CAT did not
operate the route, it was quite probable that a com-
peting organization would jump into the breach, thereby
gaining a great deal of prestige with the Chinese
Government which conceivably could lead it to competing
with CAT for international rights.
The prospective competitor was known as Foshing,
sometimes spelled Fushing, Airlines. It had been
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formed by a number of the former executives of CNAC
and CATC who had remained loyal to the Nationalist
Government. The principal officers of the company
were: chairman of the board of directors of oper-
ations, Moon F. Chin (in 1949, at the time of the
defection, he had been executive vice president of
CATC); vice chairman, Ango Tai (in 1949 and early 1950,
he had been manager of maintenance and engineering for
CATC); business manager, Harvey Toy; and chief pilot,
Arthur Hing (in 1949 he had been assistant chief pilot,
CATC). The promoters of the airline were listed as
Moon Chin, Ango Tai, Harvey Toy, Donald S. Wong, and
Lester Chin. (Ango Tai was reputedly an illigitimate
son of the Generalissimo -- a position .of great prestige
in the oriental culture.)
In June 1954, the Foshing owned three PBY's and
had one C-46 on lease. 'Between 1952 and 1954, it had
flown with its PBY's on 20 to 30 flights in support of
Li Mi, carrying supplies and money (3,000 pounds per
trip) non-stop from Tainan to Monghsat, Thailand, and
return, without refueling. Their planes had also been
chartered from time to time for flights to the of �'-
shore islands.
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The airline did not have the necessary capital
with which to compete with CAT, although it did have
considerable support at various levels in the govern-
ment from Chinese who, for one reason or another,
preferred to have a truly Chinese airline, rather than
one such as CAT which was obviously American-owned and
controlled. There is little question that if CAT had
not been flying the "around the island flights," Foshing
Airline would have been able to obtain enough capital
to pick up the route and possibly, by encouraging
external capital, to begin attempts to extend its
scheduled operations into the international fields.
It should be noted that the daily link between
Taipei and Tainan provided by the "around the island
flight" was of considerable benefit to CAT in that it
permitted the movement of personnel back and forth
quite readily, as well as the movement of limited
amounts of cargo and mail.
Domestic Operations--Non-Scheduled
This was a very minor activity and normally in-
volved either groups of tourists, government officials,
or organizations of one or other. Occasionally it
was used to move significant cargo loads, such as ship
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engine parts from the ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung,
machine parts for v.:i.rious industries on Taiwan, etc.
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LIST OF REFERENCES
TAB 0
CAT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC OPERATIONS -- SCHEDULED
AND NON-SCHEDULED
Division Quarterly Report, FE
December 1956.
Airlift - The Story of Combat Cargo,
1.
2.
Part I of Area
Division, 17
The Greatest
Captain A.G. Thompson, USAF. See Chapter 48.
"CAT on the Airlift". Page 449. Published by
Dai-Nippon Printing Co., Tokyo, Japan. May 1954.
3.
CAT Bulletin.
June 1951. Page 4
4.
CAT Bulletin.
July 1951. Page 14.
5.
CAT Bulletin.
September 1951. Page 3
6.
CAT Bulletin.
September 1951. Page 5.
7.
CAT Bulletin.
September 1953. Page 1.
8.
CAT Bulletin.
October 1953. Page 5
9.
CAT Bulletin.
November 1953. Page 5.
10.
CAT Bulletin.
December 1953. Page 4
11.
CAT Bulletin.
January 1954. Page 18.
12.
CAT Bulletin.
April 1954. Page 20
13.
14.
CAT Bulletin.
October 1954. Page 28.
15.
CAT Bulletin.
November 1954. Page 4.
16:
CAT Bulletin.
August 1954. Page 4.
17.
CAT Bulletin.
October 1954. Page 3.
18.
CAT Bulletin.
June 1953. Page 1.
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TAB P
ENGINEERING AND MAINTENANCE
When CAT first began operations in early 1947, two
small engineering and maintenance shops were established,
one at Shanghai and one at Canton. As of that time,
there were only six or seven men assigned to each of
these installations. As the CAT activity expanded,
engineering and maintenance was consolidated at Shanghai.
There were certain advantages that Shanghai held over
Canton, in that it was closer to actual operations, and
it was near the major CAF (Chinese Air Force) instal-
lations, and CAT was able to borrow hard-to-get spare
parts and other equipment from them. .It was also adja-
cent to the CNAC and CATC engineering installations,
and since they were finding it just as hard to get 'parts
for C-46's and C-47's as was CAT, there were mutual
interchanges that were of benefit to both of the air-
lines.
As the situation on the mainland began to deteri-
orate, it became fairly obvious that CAT would have to
move its shops out of Shanghai and retreat south,
although it would stand to lose all of its equipment.
Initially a charter was arranged for an LST, the
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Chung 118, and later in 1949 this LST was purchased.
At the same time a seagoing barge, "The Buddha," was
purchased.
By May of 1949, Various shops were being estab-
lished aboard the LST, and equipment, particularly
heavy equipment, was moved aboard the LST and the barge
for storage. The LST, under its own power, proceeded
shortly thereafter to Canton, while "The Buddha" was
towed there by seagoing tugs. However, at about the
same time, the decision was made to establish the main
engineering and maintenance base at Kunming, which is
in Yunnan Province and far away from adequate trans-
portation to coastal areas. A good deal of equipment
aboard the LST and the barge had to be shipped by air
into Kunming.
As the ChiComs intensified their drive toward
Canton, the LST and the barge moved down the Pearl
River to Hong Kong. There were some incidents accom-
panying the move, as many of the Chinese crew members
refused to accompany the ship into Hong Kong. On
arrival in Hong Kong, there was no wharf space available,
and the LST and the barge had to anchor in the Kowloon
Typhoon Shelter area. In order to make available
transportation to and from the ships, an LCM was
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purchased in Hong Kong.
In November 1949, the Governor of Yunnan, Lu Han,
and his troops defected to the Communists. However,
true to an implied promise he had given a short while
earlier, he permitted CAT personnel and their families,
and other American personnel in Kunming to evacuate
aboard CAT aircraft. A considerable quantity of spare
parts and valuable shop equipment was also flown out to
Sanya, an airfield located near the southern tip of
Hainan Island.
CAT had been planning to establish a main base at
Sanya if Kunming was not tenable. Sanya's airbase was
quite close to Yulin, a port capable of handling con-
siderable amounts of tonnage. With the situation
deteriorating as rapidly as it had, however, it was
decided that, despite certain disadvantages involved in
moving to Taiwan, that was the only sensible thing to
do. The LST was therefore sent to Sanya to pick up the
equipment there and then move it to Taiwan.
Once again difficulties were encountered with the
Chinese crewmen, who rebelled at the move to Sanya and
partially sabotaged the steering mechanism of the LST.
The entire crew was terminated and a new crew recruited
in Hong Kong.
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Arrangements were made between CAT and the ChiNat
Government for wharf space to be provided for the LST
and the barge at the Port of Kaohsiung, located 25
miles south of Tainan and a major CAP base. The CAP
indicated that they would be willing to provide suit-
able space and some structures already in existence at
Tainan. It was, therefore, .decided that, despite the
disadvantages of the distance involved, about the only
solution available was to set up both Kaohsiung and
Tainan as best possible. The LST moved from Hainan to
Kaohsiung in January 1950. The'LCM was put aboard the
barge and again towed to Kaohsiung.
Although an LST is normally thought of in terms of
running up onto a beachhead and discharging tanks, it
has a great deal more available space, including space
for erection of superstructure on the decks, than most
people realize. The CAT LST was a standard Navy World
War II vessel, 328 feet long and 2,500 tons. Some
work had already been done in establishing shops
aboard the LST, and initially a marine crew of 33 men
and 250 workers was kept busy improving the shop facil-
ities. The marine crew Was required, not only for the
1 purpose of keeping the LST, the barge, and the LCM in
good condition, but also had to be available in case a
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typhoon broke the LST loose. Whenever typhoons were
in the vicinity, it was necessary to have the engines
operable so that there would be some chance of con-
trolling the vessel if it broke loose. Kaohsiung lies
directly in the path of many of the seasonal typhoons
of the area, and since it is located in very flat
country, the harbor offers little or no protection.
On one occasion the barge did break loose; but the
captain and crew, having steam up, were able to maneu-
ver it inside the harbor without incurring any signif-
icant damage.
In early 1950 CAT had had the very good fortune
of .procuring the services of Mr. Hugh Grundy as chief
engineer. Grundy had been chief engineer of CNAC up
until the time of the defection of that airline in
November 1949. He was well known to CAT, which held
his ability in very high regard. Grundy had had a
great deal of experience. He was both a perfectionist
and a disciplinarian, running what in Navy parlance
would be called a tight ship. He immediately set about
improving the facilities at both Hainan and on the LST.
One of his more immediate problems was to try to estab-
lish an inventory of just what CAT did have in the way
of equipment and spare parts, since the constant moving
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had resulted in almost a complete breakdown of property
records.
During the spring and summer of 1950, CAT flying
activity fell off to some 400 flying hours per month.
In September of that year, the Far Eastern Air Force
(FEAF) urgently requested that CAT provide the maximum
amount of flight support within its capability under
the terms of a hurriedly drafted contract known as
BOOKLIFT. CAT was then faced with two immediate
problems: first, to gear up to a maximum activity in
support of FEAF; second, to establish an engineering
and maintenance facility at the Tachikawa Air Force
Base in Japan, at which most of the CAT aircraft oper-
ating under the BOOKLIFT contract were based. Involved
was the de-mothballing of a number of aircraft, and the
reassembling of the same flight and maintenance person-
nel that had been placed on leave without pay because
of the great decrease in activity during the earlier
months. Within two months, CAT was able to gear up
from the 400 hours per month to approximately 4,000
hours per month.
The second complicating factor was that the
BOOKLIFT contract had to be performed by an American
company, CAT Incorporated, which did not fly the Chinese
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Nationalist flag. All of the normal activities radiat-
ing out of Taiwan were considered as CAT flights carry-
ing the Nationalist flag. This fiction was maintained
as well as possible. Very little difficulty was
encountered in meeting the requirements sufficiently,
so that neither the Japanese nor the Chinese National-
ists raised any material questions.
As CAT activities expanded, particularly with
respect to international rights ranging from Korea to
Bangkok, engineering personnel had to be assigned to
the points at which CAT was landing regularly, in order
to provide line maintenance. Also, a number of the
larger special, contracts had to be provided with
requisite maintenance facilities. Despite the rather
heavy drain on personnel, the CAT maintenance con-
tinued in all respects to meet the highest standards.
The FEAF officers who were observing the operation
of CAT were very complimentary in terms of the engineer-
ing and maintenance standards that CAT demonstrated.
They were invited to visit Tainan in order to inspect
the CAT facilities. As a result of their interest and
their appreciation of the job that was being done, CAT
was able to procure the first overhaul contract ever
granted by the USAF outside of the United States. At
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any one given time, one might find USAF C-54's, C-119's,
PBY-5A's, C-46's, and C-47's undergoing overhaul at the
Tainan Base.
On 8 August 1954, CAT was awarded China's first Air
Safety Citation for its perfect record of no passenger
fatalities since establishment of scheduled services.
The Director of the Civil Aviation Agency of the Chinese
Government, Colonel H.Y. Lai, presented the certificate
which read as follows:
"Whereas Civil Air Transport which has
operated around the island and international
routes for four years with flying safety
excelling the average international safety
record merits high commendation, this cer-
tificate of award is especially issued as
encouragement."
An additional award followed two days later, on
10 August, when CAT received a U.S. CAA certificate
for the quality and high standards of its maintenance
facilities. The certificate made CAT the first and
only U.S. CAA approved repair installation in the Far
East with ratings for all of the following: Class IV
Air Frame; Class II propeller; Class I, II, and III
Radio; Class I, II, III, and IV Instruments; Class I,
II, and III Accessories. This was, of course, particu-
larly gratifying to the personnel of Technical Services.
(In September 1951, Grundy had been named as Director
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of Maintenance, and in early 1954 as Vice President for
Technical Services. He was named as President of CAT
in January 1955.) At the time of these awards, there
were more than 1,000 employees in the Technical Services
Division. It would be difficult for any impartial
observer to judge as to which activity CAT could be the
more proud, its operational flying record or its high
standards of engineering and maintenance.
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TAB Q
PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
Personnel
Any international airline that operates into and
out of a number of countries is faced with complex
personnel problems far beyond those which are normal
to the operations of a domestic airline. Each country
into which the airline operates has a different economy.
There are varying degrees of governmental controls. In
devising personnel procedures, each country must be
studied carefully. Procedures must.be worked out that
blend in with those in fOrce in other countries. Dur-
ing the early years when CAT operated almost entirely
as a domestic airline in China, the personnel problems
were relatively simple. The airline was operating under
a single economy, although it was a false one, and the
true value of the local currency varied greatly from
.that of the rate of exchange established by government
regulations after the fall of. the mainland, CAT was now
(late 1949) confronted with all the varying problems
which must be faced by any international airline. The
Asian facets of these problems are described below:
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Skills: When CAT first began operations in 1947,
it was fortunate in that it found a considerable body
of trained personnel of all types who were attracted
to employment with the airline. Undoubtedly, a good
deal of the attraction lay in the glamour of the name
Chennault. A number of applicants had served under
Chennault, either in the AVG (Flying Tigers), or in
the 14th Air Force. Other U.S. servicemen who were
on duty in the Far East requested discharge there so
that they could accept immediate employment with CAT.
(A number of Marine pilots based at Tientsin did this,
and formed a hard core of qualified personnel who were
familiar with the area.) In the fields of traffic
and sales and accounting, the Chinese interests hold-
ing 40 percent of the ownership of the airline were
helpful in locating suitable personnel for such posi-
tions. With the fall of the mainland, however, this
pool dried up, and employees were much more difficult
to find. A good deal of the recruiting of Americans
was then shifted to the Washington office which handled
applications, referred them to the field, and if an
applicant was deemed suitable for employment, handled
his processing and dispatch to the field. A good deal
of indigenous recruiting in the area requircA that
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applicants be of sufficient intelligence, so that with
training they could reach the skills that were required
in the positions for which they were employed.
In a number of areas of skills, suitable employ-
ment could only be made by recruiting people of the
nationality of the particular country in which the air-
line was operating. For Japan, of course, suitable
Japanese had to be found, and similar requirements
applied to Bangkok, Manila, Korea, and the other coun-
tries in which the airline operated, This recruitment
created problems which are discussed later. Basically,
of course, the company remained largely a Chinese-
American company, with the Chinese forming by far the
largest ethnic group within the company. However, a
personnel survey made in 1953 indicated that among the
employees of the airline there were Americans, Aus-
tralians, Austrians, Belgians, Chinese, Costa Ricans,
Danes, British, Filipinos, French, German, Indians
(mainly Sikhs who were normally used as guards), Irish,
Italians, Japanese, Koreans, New Zealanders, Polish,
Portuguese, Thais, and Vietnamese. All these national-
ities were intermixed and, at any given moment, one
might find a varying number of nationalities working
side by side. Under some conditions, this could be
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productive of a lack of harmony between individuals
because of their varying cultures and, unfortunately,
because of unavoidable differences in pay scales.
Adjustments of Salaries: It was obvious that, in
the countries where the airline operated, salaries for
any given skill had to be somewhat in line with the
going pay in that country. A Chinese secretary, although
perhaps equally well trained and capable as an American
secretary, could not be paid according to American
standards. There is no true formula for making proper
adjustments in establishing a pay scale. The formula
adopted by CAT, although of course there were exceptions,
was that a rate of pay in U.S. Dollars was established
for each position, if that position was to be filled by
an American. If it was to be filled by a Chinese, he
would normally be paid somewhere in the neighborhood
of 52 percent of the equivalent American pay. Dif-
ferent percentages were applied to other nationalities.
British employees, for instance, would be paid very
close to the American rate of pay for any position.
The same would not apply to other indigenous employees,
particularly in the backward countries where, if the
indigenous employees of that country were paid too far
above the going rate, there would have been repercussions
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in the government. When people of various national-
ities with similar skills are working side by side, and
it is known that the rates of pay are different, there
is a very good chance of friction developing. As much
as possible, such intermixing of too many nationalities
of people was avoided; either by hook or by crook, the
problem never became a really serious one.
One problem arose with regard to the payment to
flight crews. Normally they were paid at a given rate
for a set number of flying hours per month; for any
hours flown.in addition to that, they received overtime
pay. Although the pilots were more than well motivated,
there was no question that they hoped to earn enough
money while they were out in the Far East to be able to
have something in the form of savings when they decided
to call it a day. They looked forward to flying as
much overtime as possible, and during peak periods of
r' activity, the number of hours that they flew was limited
more by fatigue and medical considerations than by a
lack of a requirement to fly. A percentage of flying
involved could be considered to be of a hazardous
nature, and most of this flying was on behalf of Agency
operations. The pilots cleared and selected for such
flights almost unavoidably lost out on flying hours ;.Dr
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month because of requirements in terms of weather, re-
ception, etc., that might be involved. They might have
to stand-down for several days, losing all flight time
in order to be immediately on tap when a particular
Agency schedule involved indicated that all conditions
were proper. This, of course, was not a fair arrange-
ment. Agreement was worked out with the stations
involved that the CAT chief pilot and the station would
jointly assign a particular rating for a flight on
behalf of the station, which would affect the payment
that would be
of the milk-run
flight
be no added pay
a
made for that flight. If the flight were
variety, perhaps simply a logistics
there would
involved. On the other hand, if it were
flight, agreement would be reached as to the
degree of hazard involved. Flights dropping propaganda
leaflets on the mainland near the coast would receive
one rating, whereas a flight into Szechuan would be
deemed much more hazardous and receive accordingly a
greater rate of payment. The pilots accepted this,
and the system appeared to work quite well.
At times, hazardous flying was involved for cus-
tomers other than the Agency. The operation of the
C-119's for the French, particularly in 1954, is an
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excellent illustration. The number of flight hours of
the flight crews assigned to the C-119 operation was
limited by weather and by requirement for operating
mainly during the daytime. Therefore, the flight crews
had very little opportunity to accumulate flying time
per month to receive any overtime pay, which, of course,
all the other flight crews not assigned to the C-119
operation were amassing a considerable volume, because
of the draining of pilots and copilots from the normal
operations.
Governmental Reporting Requirements: Insofar as
personnel were concerned, strict compliance by the
company with various governmental reporting requirements
would often have affected them adversely in terms of
income taxes. If the American employees who had estab-
lished residence in Taiwan had had their full salaries
in American dollars reported to the local government,
they could have been taxed at a very high rate. The
normal procedure adopted by the company was to permit
the employees to designate that such and such a per-
centage of their salary be handled as an allotment with
payment made in the States, and only that amount of
money that was drawn in the field be reported to the
local governmen'z, authorities. The flight crews quite
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often, particularly in the case of single men, were
able to avoid this problem by simply not establishing
permanent residence in any country, whether it be Taiwan
or Japan or Thailand or any other place. It is quite
certain that the Taiwan authorities were aware of the
fact that an American was being paid at a much higher
level than was reported to them, but, in the writer's
opinion, they recognized that the assistance being
granted to their country by the American personnel
would probably be lost if strict requirements were in
force. Various other problems were handled in differ-
ing fashions. Cox had established residence in Hong
Kong and, if his true salary had been reported, he would
have been very heavily taxed. Since he was spending more
than half his time in traveling back'and forth through-
out the Far East, an agreement was worked out with the
BrItish authorities that a percentage of his salary,
roughly corresponding to the actual working time spent
in the Colony, was acceptable to the government as a
figure on which taxes would be paid.
For the Chinese residents in Taiwan, the problem
was much more serious, since the Chinese Government was
much more demanding of them than it was of the foreigners.
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As an illustration, consider two Chinese secretaries
of equal ability, 'one stationed in Taipei and the other
in Hong Kong, the established pay scale of the company
calling for each to be paid the equivalent of U.S. $100.
Since Hong Kong has a free money exchange market, the
secretary in Hong Kong would receive the equivalent of
U.S. $100 in Hong Kong dollars. The secretary in Taipei,
if paid the equivalent of U.S. $100 at the established
rate of exchange for new Taiwanese dollars, would re-
ceive in terms of true salary, perhaps $50 or less
because of the flourishing black market that existed in
Taiwan. If, in order to be fair to the secretary, the
company had paid her the equivalent of $100 at the go-
ing black market rate in new Taiwan currency, and if
the government authorities had known'of this, it could
have required accurate reporting with a consequent very
heavy tax levy on the employee. These problems were
almost impossible to solve in strict compliance with the
law. It can only generally be said that the company,
while careful not to undergo undue risks, did its best
to see that employees received adequate compensation
without facing too heavy a drain on the monetary position
of the company.
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Morale: Given the conditions under which CAT was
forced to operate, the morale problems could have easily
developed to a truly serious degree. Living conditions
were often inadequate. The cost of living was exorbi-
tantly high. Husbands were often separated from their
wives and families for extended periods, because of
their assignment to a particular activity. There were
tax problems, etc. The company took a great interest
and a number of steps to insure that morale in the
company was kept as high as possible.
First of all, the management of the company con-
sistently followed policies and practices which would
hopefully assure the employees of the personal interest
and concern of management in their problems. The various
senior supervisors and officers of the company held them-
selves constantly available to the employees to discuss
their problems with them and to try to find adequate
solutions.
A fairly sizable medical staff was established, and
care was-taken to insure that every installation was
receiving as much care and medical attention as could
be justified by the size of the facility and the nature
of the problems with which they were faced. In major
facilities such as Taipei, Tainan, and Tachikawa,
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clinics were established for the purpose of providi
�not only medical attention to the employee, but to nIs
family as well. In smaller installations, the medical
staff might only be in a position to supply a nurse to
be on full-time duty, but arrangements would be made
with a local physician to be prepared to handle any
medical problems which might arise among the CAT em-
ployees and their families. This was the procedure in
Hong Kong and in other of the smaller installations.
The forming of clubs of various sorts was encouraged
and, where possible, attempts were made to insure that
such facilities as swimming pools, park areas, beaches,
etc., were available.
It was found that encouraging competion of various
kinds, ranging from contests for the'best photography
and the best art works to physical sports such as soccer,
softball, golf, etc., was of great value in terms of
morale. The employees were encouraged to form teams,
not only to compete within the company, but also to
enter various community leagues in order to compete
with other teams not associated with the airline. It
was. found that such teams were greatly supported by
those employees and their families who were not able
to go out for such activities. Quite often the company
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furnished the required equipment, so that the teams
could have adequate practice and make an attractive
appearance when they appeared in competition.
The monthly company publication, The CAT Bulletin,
was also of great value. It was printed in both English
and Chinese, and contained a great many pictures. In
addition to giving coverage to the activities of the
company and to the prominent personnel who traveled
with or were entertained by ,CAT, there were articles on
both internal CAT activities and on such things as a
certain temple and park in Japan, the ruins at Ankor
Wat, or visits to Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. A great
deal of attention was paid to insuring that there was
adequate coverage of the employees themselves. Weddings
were highlighted, social gatherings, 'parties, etc., were
written up with photographic coverage. The issuance of
the monthly magazine was
ployees of the company.
Where justified, it
looked forward to by all em-
was found that the issuance of
uniforms carrying the CAT insignia, particularly to the
lower grade employees ranging from the coolies to the
station personnel handling the aircraft luggage, etc.
was a matter of great pride to the employees and gave
them much face with their neighbors. The cost to the
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company was minimal, but the contribution that was
gained from it was quite large.
There were, of course, occasional serious grievances
that defied adequate resolution, but the writer is sure
that anyone who was truly familiar with CAT and its
employees would agree that the overall morale in the
company was of the highest order.
Training
The training aspects of the airline operations were
dual in nature. First of all, of course, there were
the advantages to be gained by the airline by increas-
ing the skills and productivity of its employees.
Secondly, although never fully expressed as far as the
writer is aware, there was the expectation on the part
of the Chinese Nationalist Government that CAT would
undertake training programs that in time would permit
the Chinese employees to rise progressively within the
company, thereby eliminating the need for a number of
foreign supervisory personnel who were initially re-
quired by the company if it were going to be able to
operate effectively. This desire on the part of govern-
ments, particularly in the backward countries, is only
natural, and a considerable amount of good will can be
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gained if it is made clear that adequate training
programs are being undertaken.
The best training effort was probably that made in
the fields of engineering and Maintenance. The skills
required in those fields are in many ways more tangible
than those that might be required in other activities,
and a considerable amount of effort was made at Tainan
and in Kaohsiung to increase (sometimes by classes,
sometimes by personal instruction) the skills of the
Chinese employees involved in engineering and main-
tenance activities.
A considerable training effort was also put forth
in the traffic and sales division. Much of this was
accomplished by holding frequent seminars, and on
occasions calling traffic and sales personnel from all
installations into one large seminar. On other occa-
sions, regional and local seminars were held. Guest
speakers were often invited to give lectures on various
aspects of traffic and sales, and considerable amounts
of time were spent in insuring that the employees knew
what lay behind the establishment of rate structures, or
compliance with the laws and regulations of the country
in which the airline was operating, and by pointing out
to the employees the sales opportunities that might be
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available by interline arrangements with other companies.
They were instructed to be alert for possible charter
opportunities, and to try to develop customer relation-
ships that would pay off in continuing use by the cus-
tomer of the airline's services.
In the operations division, a considerable effort
was made to take advantage of training opportunities
with regard to ground operations personnel and to the
hostesses. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that the
training program for flight crews was of the same order
as the training program carried on for the rest of the
company. It is certainly true that, after seven or
eight years of airline operation, not a single Chinese
had qualified as a flight captain. The company had a
large number of qualified Chinese copilots, but they
were never qualified as captains despite their many
years of service.
The main reason underlying this was the simple
fact that in international flight operations there is a
noticeable passenger reluctance to fly with indigenous
flight crews. An American or foreign captain was almost
a requisite, in order to be competitive with other air-
lines. This was more felt than discussed, but led to a
reluctance to qualify fully any Of the Chinese copilots.
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Consideration was given to qualifying the best of the
Chinese as flight captains and assigning them to the
domestic "around the island operation," where there
would be much less exposure to foreign passenger travel
than there would be on the international routes. It
is surprising, in a way, that more ill will was not
engendered by this, not only among the copilots but
with the Chinese Civil Aviation Agency and with the
Chinese Air Force. A number of the copilots had been
trained by the USAF while in the service, and had
qualified as pilots. In the long run, it is quite
probable that, unless Chinese copilots are qualified
as captains, political difficulties on Taiwan will
materially increase.
The medical staff gave a continuing series of
courses in first aid for the injured, with particular
stress on attendance by operations and engineering and
maintenance employees who would be the most likely to
be on the scene of any accident. Certificates were
given to all employees who successfully completed these
courses. Also under the direction of the chief pilot,
continuing courses were given in life saving, and to
the flight crews, including the hostesses, on the
ditching procedures involved in any aircraft having to
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land on the water. Here again certificates were given
for successful completion of the courses.
Whenever possible, advantage was taken of the op-
portunities to send senior personnel for offshore train-
ing, often in the United States. The director of
personnel, who had been forced to return to the States
in order to recover from an illness, was enrolled in
the training course of a major American airline, in
order to become familiar with its personnel problems
and procedures. One of the key Chinese traffic and
sales employees was financed also on a trip to the
States, in order to learn airline management procedures.
Engineering personnel were also provided training op-
portunities in their field, as they became available.
Many of the pilots held reserve offieer status in one
of the services, and they were encouraged, when taking
their requisite active duty tours, to broaden their
knowledge of various types of aircraft and to keep them-
selves current with advances in the aviation field.
Training, insofar as the fiscal side of the company
was concerned, was largely of the on-the-job type under
the personal supervision of one of the accountants. In
the clerical fields, employees were encouraged to
increase their skills in typing, dictation, and so on,
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but classes as such for this purpose were not con-
ducted by the company.
In summary, it is felt that with the single ex-
ception of the -)blem of the Chinese copilots gaining
captain status, the company did its best to increase
the skills and the faculties of its employees, and
granted promotion recognition to those employees who
made the personal effort to increase their own skills.
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