Southern Air Transport Southern Air Transport ( SAT ) ( 1947 - 1998 ) , based in Miami , Florida , was a cargo airline best known as a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency ( 1960 - 1973 ) and for its role in the Iran - Contra affair in the mid - 1980s . Southern Air carried four loads of US weapons bound for Iran from the US to Israel , and on the return flights carried weapons destined for the Nicaraguan Contras from Portugal . The shooting down of an SAT flight in Nicaragua in October 1986 helped expose Iran - Contra . History . SAT was founded in 1947 in Miami as a charter airline flying cargo to The Bahamas . By the time it was acquired by the CIA in 1960 for $ 300 , 000 ( from the company ' s founder , F . C . " Doc " Moor ) it was still small , with three aircraft , and " plenty of debts " . SAT became a subsidiary of the CIA ' s airline proprietary network managed by George A . Doole Jr . , the Pacific Corporation . SAT ' s Pacific Division supported the US war effort in Southeast Asia , and operated 23 Lockheed Hercules aircraft in its fleet . According to the " Miami Herald " , during the 13 years the agency owned the airline it earned $ 3 million in profits , most of which were poured back into the firm to expand its operations . The Central Intelligence Agency sold Southern Air Transport for $ 2 . 1 million in 1973 to an aviation executive who had fronted for the agency ' s ownership of the airline for 13 years , the " Miami Herald " reported on 10 March 1975 . According to the newspaper , SAT had a stockholder equity of $ 4 . 2 million when the CIA sold it to Stanley G . Williams , who had fronted as president of the firm from 1962 to 31 December 1973 , when he purchased the airline . The Herald said , however , that Williams did not get as good a deal as he wanted for the airline . " It was a long , hard , arms - length transaction , " Williams said of the sale . SAT was sold again in 1979 , this time to James H . Bastian - described by the " Los Angeles Times " in 1986 as " a top - notch Washington , D . C . , aviation attorney who had worked with Doole at the Pacific Corp . from 1961 to 1974 , as secretary , vice president and general counsel . " Under Bastian the company expanded its revenues ( from $ 9 . 8m in 1982 to $ 38 . m in 1985 ) and had over 500 employees in 1986 . As of 1982 , the SAT fleet was as follows : Although the CIA was ordered to divest its airlines in 1976 , SAT continued to support US covert activities in El Salvador , Nicaragua , Angola , and elsewhere . On October 3 , 1986 Nicaragua shot down a SAT C - 123K , N4410F , formerly USAF 54 - 679 ( c / n 20128 ) , cargo plane with a Soviet - supplied , shoulder - launched heat - seeking missile and captured the cargo handler , a SAT employee Eugene Hasenfus , exposing the Iran - Contra affair . Two other crew were killed . SAT operated out of Kenya during the Rwandan crisis using C - 130 aircraft . They also recruited and tried to recruit Canadian service members and some members of Relief Air Transport , the Canadian airline operating C - 46s in Kenya , into their group . SAT operated out of Asmara , Ethiopia , ( now Eritrea ) , during the Ethiopian famine of the late 80 ' s . It hauled thousands of tons of relief supplies in the middle of a hot war under contracts for the UN , CARITAS , and the International Committee of the Red Cross , saving thousands of lives . SAT was heavily involved in famine and disaster relief efforts in other areas of Africa , as well . SAT supported the airlift into southern Sudan from the late 80 ' s into the middle 90 ' s . At one time , SAT Hercules aircraft were the sole food supply for the refugee camps in the Juba , Sudan area , during the north - south war . Again , SAT provided food for the helpless and saved countless thousands of lives . SAT ' s extensive operations included both offshore and domestic operations and SAT aircraft touched down on all seven continents and in well over a hundred countries . SAT aircraft were based in Papua New Guinea , the U . K , and very commonly in various African countries , as well as other offshore locations , with crews rotating in and out as demand required . The crews were unique . Highly talented crew members were recruited from both ex - military and civilian - trained personnel . SAT consistently performed highly difficult and challenging tasks on a wide variety of contracts , many in disturbed areas such as Somalia , both prior to and after the notorious Blackhawk Down incident . SAT Hercs also operated in Angola , Mozambique , Djibouti , Senegal , and the DRC . SAT ' s crew training was maintained to the highest standards in aviation . The aircraft were consistently well - maintained , often under the most difficult of circumstances . Maintenance personnel were of the highest caliber . Prior to the military cutback during the Clinton administration , SAT supported the U . S . Air Force ' s Logair cargo system , as well as the U . S . Navy ' s Quicktrans systems , operating much more efficiently than the military could using their own airlift . SAT also flew extensively in Europe and west Asia in support of both the U . S . Air Force and the U . S . Navy , basing out of Ramstein Air Force Base near Landsthul , Germany , and Mildenhall Air Force Base in East Anglia , U . K . SAT carried cargo of all possible description , from hauling newspapers from the U . K . to Ireland at night in winter across the Irish sea , to carrying breeding horses to Brazil . Additionally , SAT was entrusted with King Tut ' s treasure . One notable 747 mission involved hauling a load of lions from Amsterdam to Johannesburg , South Africa , the lions being on loan from the Amsterdam Zoo to the Johannesburg Zoo . SAT L - 382 ' s , 707 ' s , DC - 8 ' s and 747 ' s served many commercial carriers carrying outsize cargo and hazardous materials . It also performed routine U . S . Embassy supply missions throughout Latin America , covering all of Central and South America , as well as Mexico . One of SAT ' s most notable accomplishments was a three year contract supporting Chevron ' s drilling operations in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea , operating from a base at Nadzab airport near Lae . Chevron was " totally " dependent on SAT L - 382 ' s , as no roads reached the massive oil recovery operation near Lake Kutubu . Papua New Guinea provides some of the world ' s most challening flying conditions , due both to the rapidly changing tropical monsoons that sweep the island nation , and the incredibly rugged terrain features of the country . During the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations , SAT ' s accomplishments became legendary . Both the company and the participating crewmembers received performance awards as members of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet from a grateful U . S . Air Force . The airline declined during the late 1990s but continued to operate freight charter flights worldwide . In late 1998 it tried to merge with other aviation companies , but it filed for bankruptcy on October 1 , the same day that the CIA released a report detailing allegations that it had been used for drug trafficking . On March 10 , 1999 , the assets of Southern Air Transport were purchased by Southern Air , and the new carrier began operations in November , 1999 . The history of Southern Air Transport from its founding in 1947 to its purchase by the CIA in 1960 is covered in the book " Then Came The CIA " published in May , 2011 by Fred C . Moor III