The Untold Story of Air America

When American operatives were conducting top secret activities in Southeast Asian countries they had no business being in, they called Air America if things got hairy. The airline, disguised as a civilian company, was actually a CIA service that discreetly supplied and evacuated Americans during the Cold War. Now, the covert airline will be in the spotlight, as a Freedom of Information request by the University of Texas at Dallas has yielded thousands of documents detailing the history of Air America. In one harrowing rescue, Air America pilots managed to rescue a pilot who had to evacuate his plane over rebel territory in Laos after his bomb, meant for the Ho Chi Minh trail, "exploded prematurely."