This is a link to a web page begun by one of our former pilots at Southern Air Transport, Pete Taber, who was also the union president for the Teamsters at SAT.

There are some good shots here, and I anticipate more.

What we did with the Hercs at SAT has never been equaled by any other airline. A collection of ex military and civilian pilots and flight engineers, we did some remarkable things with these remarkable aircraft and set records that will never be touched.

You might find some of this interesting. A lot of good African stuff here. Not luxury hunting camp tourist Africa, but in your face, down and dirty get yourself killed Africa.

http://www.herkybird.info/index.html

I can attest to the crews of SAT and what they go through. I once was an engine/propeller mechanic for Aero Corp. When inspections were done ,we would find loose grain stuck in the bilge where it was caked in with dead bugs.I had heard that number 500 or 501(dont know which one) had hit a land mine in Africa and tore up the nose gear and severed "E" handle cables to keep from shutting down engines.Supposedly the A/C sat on it's tail and the crew jumped out. All they could do was watch the A/C run out of fuel. Has anyone heard this story? My reason to want to know is I was the one who inspected and reconditioned the propellers on both of the A/C.I'm proud of my small contribution to the effort.Also, could anyone tell me what ever happened to Mr. John Mills from the Mama would be proud fame?

N501SJ...hit an anti-tank mine that was planted in the end of the runway by the Sudanese military at Wao, Sudan. The aircraft was on a Red Cross contract and the Red Cross refused to pay extortionate bribes to the base commanding officer, so they blew up one of our airplanes.

Five crew were aboard. The Captain, Curt Redfern, suffered a severe back injury but managed to climb out the swing window.
The engineer, whose name escapes me, suffered a compound fracture of the right femur, since he was sitting directly above the nosewheels, which detonated the mine. The FO, Nancy Lemmon, was unable to evac tha aircraft after suffering a fractured heel and the loadmaster who went out through the crew door, went back into the burning cockpit and dragged her out, saving her life. There was also a flight mechanic on board. All crew are now deceased except Nancy, who flies for FedEx out of the Phillipines, at last report.

All crew were who needed it were given morphine but Nancy. Being a woman, the muslim military felt she did not deserve any.

Redfern and Lemmon successfully sued Southern Air Transport for unnecessarily endangering them as the word finally got out that SAT knew of a threat against the aircraft that were flying into Wao. The engineer did not join in the lawsuit. SAT paid him off with a promise of a lifetime income, but SAT drove itself intentionally into the ground in 1998 and he got ripped off. He died a couple of years later.

As you mention, all engine shutdown controls, both electrical and mechanical, were severed. The fire went out on its own and the engines ran to fuel exhaustion for about four hours. The crew was eventually evaced to Nairobi via a UN King Air hours after the incident. As far as I know, the Sudanese cannabalized the aircraft for parts.

On another note, I picked up one of our aircraft at Aero and test flew it for two hours after a heavy check. The only problem we encountered was a long wire HF antenna that came loose at the tail juncture and we had to land without reversing so we wouldn't suck it into the props. You guys did good work.