Aero Contractors Ltd., a private charter company based in
Smithfield,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, is said by some to provide discreet air transport services for the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA).
The company was founded in 1979 by Jim Rhyne, a former pilot with
Air America. The company has 26 planes and 79 employees and operates from the tiny Johnston Regional Airport.
[European Parliament Working Document No 4 on the flights operated by the CIA in Europe]
/ref>
On May 31, 2005, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that the company was heavily involved in extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored Kidnapping, forcible abduction in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States-led program used during the War on Terror, which had t ...
, the transport of terrorism suspects to countries where they can be interrogated to extract information. An Aero Contractors plane was used in the transport of Khalid El-Masri
Khaled El-Masri (also Khalid El-Masri and Khaled Masri, Levantine Arabic pronunciation: , ar, خالد المصري) (born 29 June 1963) is a German and Lebanese citizen who was mistakenly abducted by the Macedonian police in 2003, and handed ov ...
, a German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
citizen who was pulled from a bus on the Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
- Macedonia border and held for three weeks. He was drugged and beaten before being flown to Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
on a Boeing Business Jet
Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) are versions of Boeing's jet airliners with modifications to serve the private, head of state and corporate jet market. In 1996, Phil Condit, president of The Boeing Company, and Jack Welch, chairman and CEO of Genera ...
operated by Aero Contractors. El-Masri was released after five months.[C.I.A. Expanding Terror Battle Under Guise of Charter Flights](_blank)
/ref>
Aero Corporations allegedly operates under several different shell companies
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
, including Stevens Express Leasing, Inc., Premier Executive Transport Services
Premier Executive Transport Services was an airline listed as Foreign Corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is alleged to be a front company for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to investigative journalists the com ...
, Aviation Specialties, Inc., Aero LLC (Wyoming) and Devon Holding and Leasing, Inc.
A book published in September 2006, ''Torture Taxi
''Torture Taxi'': ''On the Trail of the CIA's Rendition Flights'' is a 2006 book by A. C. Thompson and Trevor Paglen documenting the CIA's extraordinary rendition program.
The authors note the discovery of the program's means of transportation, ...
: On the Trail of the CIA Rendition Flights'' includes many details about Aero Contractors' involvement in extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored Kidnapping, forcible abduction in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States-led program used during the War on Terror, which had t ...
.
In September 2018, th
North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture
released a report entitle
Torture Flights: North Carolina’s Role in the CIA Rendition and Torture Program
which detailed the history of the airport's activities with the rendition, detention and interrogation and the suggested CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
shell companies
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
involved. The report is available on their website format.
See also
* List of defunct airlines of the United States
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*Jeppesen
Jeppesen (also known as Jeppesen Sanderson) is an American company offering navigational information, operations planning tools, flight planning products and software.
Jeppesen's aeronautical navigation charts are often called "Jepp charts" or s ...
*Rendition aircraft
This page describes several aircraft that are alleged in media reports to have been used in the practice of extraordinary rendition, the extralegal transfer of prisoners from one country to another.
N313P
N313P was a tailnumber assigned to a Boe ...
*Tepper Aviation
Tepper Aviation, Inc. was a privately held aviation company operating a fleet of Lockheed L-100 Hercules aircraft and was one of the largest civilian operators of L-100/L-382 aircraft. The airline may have suspended operations in 2006. On October ...
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
Youtube video of protest at Aero Contractors, March 18, 2007
Johnston County Airport
NCCIT
Airlines established in 1979
Companies based in North Carolina
Central Intelligence Agency front organizations
Defunct airlines of the United States
Airlines based in North Carolina