sikes airport headquarters crestview florida usa website official page tepper aviation inc. is based at the bob sikes airport in crestview florida . the company has a long association with the cia . 1 2 in the late 1980s and early 1990s it was widely reported to be flying weapons into angola to arm the unita rebels . 3 more recently it has been linked with the practice of extraordinary rendition . 4 tepper aviation is a privately held aerospace company with operating a fleet of lockheed l 100 hercules aircraft and is one of the largest civilian operators of l 100 l 382 aircraft . 5 contents 1 alleged cia affiliation 2 see also 3 notes 4 further reading 5 external links alleged cia affiliation edit in early 1989 the uk independent reported tepper s involvement in angola 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 . 3 peddy died months later in the crash of hercules aircraft n9205t 6 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 . 7 according to the book of honor by ted gup peddy was the head of tepper at the time 2 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 . 2 see also edit aero contractors us air america rendition aircraft notes edit grey stephen ghost plane the true story of the cia torture program st. martin s press new york 1st ed . october 2006 library of congress card number 2006048347 isbn 0 312 36023 1 page 108 . a b c ted gup 18 december 2007 . the book of honor the secret lives and deaths of cia operatives . knopf doubleday publishing group . pp. 333 . isbn 978 0 307 42819 6 . a b alan george airline carrying cia guns to unita the independent uk february 18 1989 . european rights watchdog probes cia prisoner flights abc news australia november 24 2005 http www.tepperaviation.com about us accident description for n9205t aviation safety network . undated accessed may 18 2006 . angolan cia hercules air crash kills tepper aviation chief flight international december 13 1989 . further reading edit cia resumes angola covert flights flight international march 21 1990 . alan george us weapons boost angolan rebels the guardian uk june 25 1990 . usa step up unita supply flight international june 27 1990 . tepper aviation plans us internal cargo services flight international march 4 1992 . 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 . george wright the destruction of a nation united states policy toward angola since 1945 page 151 . isbn 0 7453 1029 x. mentions tepper s activities in angola . lars olausson lockheed hercules production list 1954 2009 volume 26 self published s ten s sweden april 2008 no isbn lists tepper l 100 operations . peter c. smith lockheed c 130 hercules the world s favourite military transport . isbn 1 84037 197 8 . publisher airlife pub ltd november 2001 . mentions tepper . external links edit official page v t 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