Seaboard World Airlines
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Seaboard World Airlines, an international all-cargo airline based in the United States, was founded on September 16, 1946 as Seaboard & Western Airlines. It adopted the name Seaboard World Airlines in April 1961. Jet cargo service started in 1964 with the introduction of the Douglas DC-8.
The airline played a prominent role in the Vietnam War during the late 1960s, using Douglas DC-8 Super 63 jets to connect McChord Air Force Base, Washington with Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, fairly close to the front lines with North Vietnam. In 1968, one of these flights operating as Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253 was forced to land in the Soviet Union with 214 American troops on board. One infamous incident was the Seaboard World Airlines landing at Marble Mountain, where a DC-8 Super 63 accidentally landed at a helicopter airstrip in Vietnam.
The airline merged with Flying Tiger Line on October 1, 1980 resulting in the loss of its corporate identity.
A short history of Seaboard, written by three Seaboard pilots, can be found here.
