Allen Lawrence Pope (born October 20, 1928) is an American retired military and paramilitary aviator. He rose to international attention as the subject of a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Indonesia after the B-26 Invader aircraft he was piloting in a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covert operation was shot down over Ambon on May 18, 1958 during the "Indonesian Crisis". Pope's aviation career began with the United States Air Force, serving with distinction flying bombing missions in the Korean War. He transferred to the CIA in 1954, which he also served with distinction flying transport missions in the First Indochina War. In the Permesta rebellion in Indonesia in 1958, Pope again flew bombing missions for the CIA. Shot down by government forces, he was captured and held under house arrest for just over four years. In 1960, an Indonesian court condemned him to death, but considerable back-channel negotiations led to his release by President Sukarno in 1962. Pope returned to the United States and subsequently flew CIA covert missions in other theaters. A native of Miami, Florida, and graduate of the University of Florida, Pope is now retired and lives in the United States. In 2005, France made him a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur for his service in Indochina. Biography After university, Pope entered the U.S. Air Force and served as a first lieutenant in the Korean War. He flew a Douglas B-26 Invader in combat, receiving three Air Medals and a Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, the U.S. Air Force returned Pope to the United States as an Air Force instructor. Điện Biên Phủ In March 1954, Pope left the U.S. Air Force and joined a CIA front organization, Civil Air Transport (CAT), flying one of its Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars to supply French forces besieged in the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ in French Indochina. On March 13, Việt Minh artillery disabled Điện Biên Phủ's airstrip, forcing the French garrison there to be supplied by air drop. CAT pilots flew hundreds of sorties from Cat Bi to Điện Biên Phủ. On May 6, 1954, the day before the French force surrendered, Pope was co-pilot of the lead aircraft in a group of six C-119s that made the last air drop to the besieged garrison. Pope remained with CAT at the end of the First Indochina War that August, initially making civilian charter flights from