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Commercial Pilot & Humanitarian
Born August 31, 1919, "Augie" was an American pilot and Tuskegee Airman. In 1955 he became the first African American to attain the rank of Captain with a commercial airline, and the first black airline pilot in the United States. In 1955 he was employed by Seaboard World Airlines as a Captain, thus becoming the first African American to hold that post with a scheduled U.S. airline. He was a founding member of Negro Airmen International in 1967. During his time with Seaboard, he piloted DC-3, DC-4, Lockheed Constellation and Canadair CL-44 planes. |
Captain Martin undertook numerous humanitarian aid flights to Africa and was part of the Biafran airlift operations. On July 30, 1968, he volunteered to fly food and relief material in a mercy mission into the embattled and starved stronghold enclave of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. While attempting to land his Lockheed L‑1049G Super Constellation on the Uli jungle airstrip at night, during a tropical storm, he was killed in a crash. Also killed in the accident were his wife, actress Gladys Frank Riddle Martin, and two representatives of the International Red Cross.
The August Martin High School in South Jamaica, New York is named after him. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration published the August Martin Activities Book for minority children in 1980 and 1993.
Click the link below to download a free copy of August Martin Activities Book! http://www.dot.state.mn.us/aero/aviationeducation/documents/publications/augie.pdf *Click the picture for references and additional information! |