Early in the morning of 15 April 1961, Gustavo Ponzoa was at the controls of a B26 Invader bomber with Cuban Air Force markings, flying over the Caribbean Sea. As his aircraft approached the Cuban coastline, he dropped down close to the water to avoid detection by radar. His target was Antonio Maceo Airport in Santiago de Cuba at the southeastern end of the island, which served as both a civilian airport and a military airbase As Ponzoa approached at 0545, a DC3 airliner of Cubana Airlines was on the tarmac taking on fuel ready for a scheduled flight at 0600. Ponzoa released his first 500-pound bomb and the DC3 exploded. A second B26 following close behind also attacked and both aircraft came round for a second pass, leaving a trail of smoke and wrecked aircraft behind them.
The great irony of this event was that Gustavo Ponzoa was a former Cubana Airlines pilot, he knew Antonio Maceo Airport well and had flown that very DC3 himself many times. So what was going on here? Why were Cuban pilots attacking an airfield in their own country?
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