FLIGHTS FROM MEXICO CITY TO HAVANA ON 22 NOVEMBER 1963.
Originator: CIA
Document date: 1964-12-31 00:00:00
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

# DOCID-32396996

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Date: 03/22/05

AGENCY

RECORD NUMBER

RECORD

SERIES

AGENCY FILE NUMBER

JEK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM

IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY INFORMATION

: CIA

104-10429-10054

JFK

RUSS HOLMES WORK FILE

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

: CIA

AGENCY ORIGINATOR

FRỌM

TO

TITLE

DATE

PAGES

FLIGHTS FROM MEXICO CITY TO HAVANA ON 22 NOVEMBER 1963.

12/31/1964

3

SUBJECTS

: JEK ASSASSINATION

MEXICO/HAVANA

DOCUMENT TYPE. : PAPER

CLASSIFICATION

: SECRET

RESTRICTIONS :

1B

CURRENT STATUS : RELEASED IN PART PUBLIC - RELEASED WITH DELETIONS

DATE OF LAST REVIEW

COMMENTS

: 06/24/04

JFK-RH17 : F02:

20040330-1069613

Released under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act of

1992 (44 USC 2107 Note). Case#:NW

55990 Date: 11-01-2021

[R] - ITEM IS RESTRICTED

104-10429-10054

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SIBILIT:" Plights from Mexico City to Havana on 22 November 1963

REFERENCE: 1. What is the total ClA infonnation on the two flights

from Mexico City to Havana?

2. What was done at the time to develop further infornation

on this matter?

3..

Can further information be acquired on this matter now?

FINDINGS:

1. The Mexico Station records confirm only one flight from Mexico City

to Havana on 22 November 1963. This was the regularly scheduled Cubana

Airlines flight. There were two reports of small aircraft flights (one

a twin engine flight to Mexico City connecting with Cubana for onward

transportation to Havana of a mysterious passenger; and the other a flight.

allegedly from Dallas, Tijuana, and Mexico City to Havana with two "gang-

land" type passengers.) Beyond the original reports (from sources oi

undetermined reliability) there was nothing in the Mexico Station records

to substantiate that these flights occurred.

2. Facts substantiated by Mexico Station records: On 22 November 1963

a Cubana Airlines plane from Havana arrived at the Mexico City International

airport at 1620 hours (Mexico City time) and departed oi a return flight to

Havana between 1940 and 2035 hours (Mexico City time) the same day. It was

on the ground in Mexico City about. 4 hours which would be considered normal

for servicing for a turnaround flight carrying passengers both ways. . This

information was obtained from sensitive reliable sources in the process of

routine operating procedures on 22 November 1963.

3. Report not substantiated by Mexico Station records: On 30 November

1963 CIA Headquarters cabled Mexico City that a report had been received

that the 22 November 1963 Cubana departure had been delayed five hours from

1700 to 2200 hours awaiting an important passenger who arrived at the Mexico

City airport in a private twin motor aircraft at 2130 hours Mexico time.

Passenger transferred directly to Cubana plane without going through customs

or inmigration and travelled in pilot's cabin to Havana.

?! This information

was passed to the Mexican officials on 2 December 1963 for investigation.

There is no record of a reply. We know from independent information in

paragraph two above that some parts of this report are in error.

The Cubana

flight was not delayed for five hours. It had departed for Havana from Mexico

City between 1640 and 2035 hours which would be at least an hour before, the

twin motor aircraft was alleged to have arrived in Mexico City. The source's

name is on the manifest as a passenger from Mexico City to Havana but the

time supplied by him does not agree with other information considered reliable.

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The Mexican Government assured the U.S. Amhassador that it was taking

steps to control travellers and closed the border with the U.S. for

several hours immediately after the assassination.

3/

A flightnof*a

private aircraft such as this is possible but it is unlikely that such

unusual activity as this would have gone unnoticed by the Mexico Station

team of observers who reported on Cubana Airlines flights. 4/

4. Report. not substantiated by Mexico Station records: On 2 November

1964 the Hamburg Base reported that a source in Cuba claimed to have seen

an aircraft with Mexican markings discharge passengers at the Havana airport

at 1700 hours on 22 November 1963. The source reported that the two passen-

gers "were gangsters" and that "the plane had just come from Dallas, via

Tijuana (where it was forced to land' because of engine trouble) and Mexico

City." 5/ This information was sent to the FBI on 23 December 1964 for

investigation.

6/ The FBI responded on 31 December 1964 that Tijuana

would have been an unlikely place for a "forced landing" on a flight from

Dallas to Havana. Their office was making no further inquiries in the

absence of additional details from CIA. They suggested that CIA conduct

an investigation in Tijuana. I (Tijuana is almost the same distance from

Dallas flying West as Havana would be flying Southeast or Mexico City would

be flying South.) The Mexico Station had no investigativ e assets in the

Tijuana area. The information was a year old when received and much too

vague for retroactive checking of records. The untested source who had

provided the report died before he could be questioned for additional

details.

listing of the Cubana Airlines flight delay from "6 p.m. until 11 p.m."

The writers of this report were probably trying to transpose the departure

of the this report master time

December 1963 which is probably a mistaken reference to the cable which

is dated 30 November 1963. 2/ The Mexico Station file copy of this cable

carried the date of 1 December 1963 which is the date it was received. ?

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90. 1:501227

SOURCES:

1/

2 /

3/

4/

5/

6/

Transcripts from Cuban Embassy and Cubana Airlines conversations

on 22 November 1963 discussing arrival time of flight, it's delay

in arriving, and departure.

Joint CIA Mexican Government telephone

tap of four separate Cuban Embassy lines.

Summary translations are

in English from the Spanish langage transcript. These are not verbatim

transcripts.

The Spanish text is the original monitor's interpretation

of the conversation.

The English text is an interpretation of the

monitor's interpretation. (File: 50-9-12 Folder 23, 22 November 1963

Job 64-518/84, Space 307389.)

Cable from CIA to Mexico City Station DIR 36054 dated 30 November 1963:

(File:201-289248). Mexico City Station file copy of DIR 86054 which is

dated 1 December 1963, the date of receipt. (201-289248). Extract of

the information passed to the Mexican Government officials for a check

on this aircraft, dated 2 December 1963. (File: 201-289248).

Cable from U.S. Embassy, Mexico City; Ambassador Thomas C. Mann,

dated 22 November 1963,

Control 269, SECSTATE 1177, advising the

Department of State that the Mexican Government had closed the border

with the U.S. for all travellers not personnally and well-known to the

Mexican Government. (File: Mexico. Station File P-8593).

LIFIRE surveillance team. Their case officer at that time was Robert

H. Feldmann of LA Division.

EGGA- 3171 dated 2 November 1964, a dispatch from Hamburg Base

reported information from Professor Walter SIMON who had received

it a year earlier from a Cuban colleague. (AMLOAN. Job #66=602/61,

File: 19-6-79/3, volume 1). HMMA=13244 dated 30 December 1964

transmitted to Mexico City Station a copy of the CSCI-316/02545-64

which had been sent to the FBI on 23 December 1964. (201-322247) •

CSCI-316/02545-64 dated 23. December 1964 (201-322247) .

FBI memorandum dated 31 December 1964 DBA-9434,

Subject: Lee Harvey

OSWALD responding to CSCI-316/02545-64 (201-322247).

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