Difference between revisions of "Tepper Aviation, Inc."

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'''Tepper Aviation, Inc.''' is based in Crestview, Florida.{{ref|tepperCompanyRecords}} The company has a long association with the [[CIA]]. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was widely reported to be flying weapons into [[Angola]] to arm the [[UNITA]] rebels.{{ref|indie18Feb89}} More recently, it has been linked with the practice of [[extraordinary rendition]].
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'''THIS ARTICLE IS LIBELLOUS AND MALICIOUS AND MUST BE TAKEN DOWN IMMEDIATELY.'''
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'''Tepper Aviation, Inc.''' is based in Crestview, Florida.{{ref|tepperCompanyRecords}}
  
 
Tepper appears to have close links with [[Crestview Aerospace Corporation]]: it shares the same address, and [[Charles R. Shanklin]] is a director of both companies.{{ref|tepperCompanyRecords}}{{ref|crestviewCompanyRecords}} Additionally, Tepper director [[Jack E. Owen]] was President of Crestview Aerospace until 2001.{{ref|crestview2001UBR}}.
 
Tepper appears to have close links with [[Crestview Aerospace Corporation]]: it shares the same address, and [[Charles R. Shanklin]] is a director of both companies.{{ref|tepperCompanyRecords}}{{ref|crestviewCompanyRecords}} Additionally, Tepper director [[Jack E. Owen]] was President of Crestview Aerospace until 2001.{{ref|crestview2001UBR}}.

Revision as of 02:20, 20 May 2006

THIS ARTICLE IS LIBELLOUS AND MALICIOUS AND MUST BE TAKEN DOWN IMMEDIATELY.

Tepper Aviation, Inc. is based in Crestview, Florida.[1]

Tepper appears to have close links with Crestview Aerospace Corporation: it shares the same address, and Charles R. Shanklin is a director of both companies.[2][3] Additionally, Tepper director Jack E. Owen was President of Crestview Aerospace until 2001.[4].

Running guns to UNITA for the CIA

The first report of Tepper's involvement in Angola was in early 1989, in the UK Independent newspaper:

"The CIA has appointed a new airline to ferry weaponry to the US and South African-backed Unita guerrillas fighting the Marxist government in Angola. The CIA's previous airline for this task was forced to close after media revelations. Tepper Aviation, based in Crestview, Florida, operates a Hercules freighter aircraft which, according to former employees, has flown between the Kamina air base in southern Zaire and Unita- held territory in eastern Angola. Tepper was set up in late 1980, after the demise of the CIA's previous carrier, St. Lucia Airways, whose activities, in addition to the Angolan work, included the transport of Colonel North and weapons to Iran... Bud Peddy, who heads Tepper, categorically denies that the Hercules has been in Zaire or Angola." [5]

The categorical denial by Tepper's chief was somewhat undermined by his own death just months later in an aircrash in Angola, as reported by Flight International:

"The Lockheed L-100 Hercules which crashed while on a US Central Intelligence Agency mission in Angola late last month was owned and operated by Tepper Aviation, a Florida-based company with a history of involvement with CIA operations. Bud Peddy, the head of Tepper Aviation, was piloting the aircraft and was killed in the crash along with, at least two West Germans, a Briton and a second American. The aircraft, painted grey and known as the 'Grey Ghost', came down at night on 27 November as it was coming in to land at Jamba, the main base of the UNITA guerrillas fighting Angola's Marxist Government. The aircraft was carrying a cargo of weapons, plus several guerrillas, as well as the Europeans and Americans." [6]

The plane in question was N9205T.[7] The head of Tepper at the time was in fact named Pharies 'Bud' Petty (both The Independent and Flight International managed to get this wrong). "The Book of Honor" by Ted Gup describes the ill-fated mission in some detail:[8]

"The lumbering cargo plane that would take him into Angola was to be one of the 'Gray Ghosts,' so named for their slate-colored paint. The plane had four seats in the front -- for a pilot, copilot, navigator, and loadmaster. The fuselage was largely open for cargo. On board that night was a seasoned crew of six. Even by Agency standards, it had a distinctly international flavor. Heading the team was Pharies 'Bud' Petty, a veteran Agency pilot who, at least on paper, presided over a Florida firm called Tepper Aviation, located in Crestview, just off Eglin Air Force Base. The other crew members were all ostensibly employees of Tepper."

Gup's book identifies Gracie T. Petty as Petty's widow [9]. She is currently secretary and treasurer of Tepper Aviation.[10]

Aircraft operated by Tepper

Contact details

5486 Fairchild Road,
Hangar #7,
Crestview, FL 32539, U.S.
(source)

SourceWatch resources

External links

Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations records

Books

Articles

  • ^ Alan George, "Airline 'carrying CIA guns to Unita'", The Independent (UK), February 18 1989. Available via Lexis-Nexis.
  • ^ "Angolan CIA Hercules air crash kills Tepper Aviation chief", Flight International, December 13, 1989. Available via Lexis-Nexis.
  • "CIA resumes Angola covert flights", Flight International, March 21, 1990. Available via Lexis-Nexis.
  • Alan George, "US weapons boost Angolan rebels", The Guardian (UK), June 25, 1990. Available via Lexis-Nexis.
  • "USA step up Unita supply", Flight International, June 27, 1990. Available via Lexis-Nexis.
  • "Tepper Aviation plans US internal cargo services", Flight International, March 4, 1992. Available via Lexis-Nexis.
  • Richard K. Kolb, "Into the Heart of Darkness. Cold War Africa: Part 2, Angola", VFW Magazine (Veterans of Foreign Wars of United States), May 1999. Via archive.org. Mentions Tepper's role in Angola.
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