Flying for the CIA's Air America in South East Asia (233)

Cold War Conversations

In 1964, pilot Captain Hansen found himself unemployed. He began to send out feelers to several companies including one that had placed an ad in the Washington Post called Air America. When he was called in for an interview which primarily consisted of two questions - can you fly good and do you drink a lot.

Air America was the airline owned by the CIA. Its operations were unknown. Its schedules were irregular. Its pilots were shadow people. Its world was the world of spooks, covert air ops, adventure, and danger. Hansen would be flying in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and other locations in Southeast Asia. It could not have been a better fit for Hansen, an addicted adrenaline junkie. He would end up staying in Asia for over a decade and was fortunate enough to live to tell us about it in his book “Flight”

Buy Neil's book here

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I am delighted to welcome Neil Hansen to our Cold War conversation…

Further information is here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode233/

0:00 Introduction of guest, Neil Hansen, and his journey with Air America

2:02 Call for financial support for the Cold War Conversations podcast

3:35 Hansen's recruitment and early experiences with Air America

13:31 Hansen's black flight missions and promotion within Air America

20:13 Hansen's unique flight training methods and handling emergencies

26:12 Planning missions and gathering intelligence in Vietnam and Laos

30:53 Hansen's first-hand account of the Tet Offensive

41:21 Navigating the dangers and challenges in Laos during the Cold War

1:00:01 Hansen's harrowing experience of being shot down and bailing out

1:04:07 The last flight out of Cambodia: Neil Hansen's escape and reflection

1:20:26 Neil Hansen's fight for recognition, his book, and concluding remarks

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