Southern Air TransportThe second Southern Air Transport, based in Miami, Florida, is best known as a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency. It was founded in 1947 and became a subsidiary of the CIA's airline proprietary network, the Pacific Corporation. SAT's Pacific Division supported the US war effort in Southeast Asia, and operated 23 Lockheed Hercules aircraft in its fleet. 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. In 1986 Nicaragua shot down a SAT C-123K cargo plane and captured the cargo handler, a SAT employee Eugene Hasenfus, leading to the Iran-Contra affair.The airline declined during the 1990s. 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, owned by Carmit Neff (50%) and James Neff (50%), and the new carrier began operations in November, 1999.