Evergreen International Airlines

The airline was established by Delford Smith (founder and owner) and began operations in 1960 as Evergreen Helicopters. It acquired the operating certificate of alleged Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) front company Johnson Flying Service[7] and merged it with Intermountain Airlines (a known CIA front) from Pacific Corporation (also a CIA front) in 1975 to form Evergreen International Airlines. The holding company, Evergreen International Aviation, formed in 1979, wholly owned the airline.[3] Evergreen also purchased the assets of Air America which had provided fixed wing and helicopter support for the CIA in southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict.

Evergreen served as an Agency front widely over its history:[8][2]

Wherever there was a hot spot in the world, Evergreen’s helicopters and later airplanes were never far behind. Evergreen’s hardware was so inextricably linked with political intrigue that rumors swirled that the company was owned by, or a front for, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Indeed, several of the company’s senior executives either worked for the agency or had close ties to it.

Smith never let on, disingenuously telling the Portland Oregonian in 1988, “We don’t know when we’ve ever worked for them [the CIA], but if we did we’re proud of it. We believe in patriotism, and, you know, they’re not the [Russian spy service] KGB.”[7]

Evergreen bought assets during the 1970s that were previously linked to CIA operations including Montana’s Johnson Flying Service and the CIA’s aviation 'skunk works' located at the Pinal Airpark in Arizona where Evergreen subsequently performed special maintenance such as servicing the NASA operated Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) used to transport the Space Shuttle. Evergreen subsequently sold the Pinal Airpark facility to Relativity Capital in 2011.[7]

Officially, the company provided "aviation services" for the CIA, including illegal-drug abatement spraying in Mexico and South America and transporting the Shah of Iran from Egypt to Panama,[7] then Panama to the United States in 1980.[9] Shortly thereafter it ran mysterious missions to El Salvador and Nicaragua.[2]

Evergreen performed more than military and intelligence community work, also servicing other government agencies in the U.S. as well as in other nations. Its Boeing 747 Supertanker aircraft was used as an firefighting air tanker from Israel to Mexico; its unmanned systems division flew drone flights over disaster zones; NASA hired it to operate its flying infrared observatory;[2] its aircraft supported United Nations peacekeeping operations in 30 countries; flew insect-eradication missions throughout Africa; provided helicopter support for the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service; and operated helicopters for FEMA following Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Commercially, the airline helped build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; and developed and serviced the offshore oil and gas market with helicopter support worldwide via its Evergreen Helicopters division.[7]

"All told, Smith said his company flew in 168 countries over the years. 'We were all over the world. Everywhere they needed a helicopter, they needed an airplane as well,'" said Smith.[7]

One of Evergreen's Boeing 747 airplanes (registered N473EV, which suffered an in-flight engine separation in 1993)[10] starred in the 1990 action film Die Hard 2.[11]

On November 9, 2013, it was announced that Evergreen Airlines would close on November 30, 2013 due to financial troubles.[12][13] This information was initially denied by Evergreen, but shortly afterwards admitted:[14] "Evergreen International Airlines flew its last flight Monday [December 2, 2013] Mike Hines, chairman of its parent company board, acknowledged..."[15]

On December 31, 2013, Evergreen International Airlines filed a Chapter 7 petition in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. The bankruptcy filing lists seven entities as submitting the Chapter 7 petition: Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprise, Evergreen Defense and Security Services, Evergreen International Airlines, Evergreen International Aviation, Evergreen Systems Logistics, Evergreen Trade, and Supertanker Services.[16]

In June of 2014, Evergreen had declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy[17][18] and began a liquidation of assets, including its headquarters campus in McMinnville.[19]

By the time of Smith's death November 7, 2014, the remains of his once billion-dollar Evergreen Aviation empire had been sold off, shut down, or was in bankruptcy and under investigation by tax authorities.[7]

As of August 2006, Evergreen International Airlines previously operated the following aircraft:[27][28][29]

• 1 Airbus A300
• 1 Airbus A320
• 2 Beech 1900
• 35 Boeing 727-100
• 17 Boeing 747-100
• 16 Boeing 747-200
• 5 Boeing 747-400
• 4 Boeing 747SR
• 2 Boeing 757-200
• 1 Curtiss C-46
• 10 Convair 340
• 2 Convair 440
• 1 Convair 580
• 8 Dassault Falcon
• 1 Douglas DC-2
• 2 Douglas DC-3
• 25 Douglas DC-8-33
• 1 Fokker F27 Friendship
• 1 Gulfstream II
• 1 Learjet 35
• 19 Lockheed L-188A Electra
• 1 Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
• 7 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15
• 15 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32

A division of Evergreen, Evergreen Airspur, also operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter STOL aircraft in scheduled commuter airline operations in southern California.[30]