The State - News from June 12, 1987

Trainee pilot Michael Boyd, 45, tried hard to maintain a correct approach before the Southern Air Transport cargo plane he was trying to land crashed short of the runway at Travis Air Force Base in April, newly released documents indicate. A transcript released in Washington of cockpit conversations as the pilot attempted to land show that the four-engine Lockheed Hercules appeared to lose power in both engines before the crash. Witnesses said the plane pitched and rolled to the left. Then the plane’s nose and right wing struck the ground and it exploded. The documents did not make clear what caused the engines to fail. Boyd and all four other people aboard were killed. Southern Air Transport is a Miami-based charter company formerly controlled by the CIA that has been used to supply the contras .