ORLANDO, Fla. – The news that Orlando International Airport can now offer flights to Cuba comes with historic irony.
It was 50 years ago in October 1962 that flights headed to Cuba took off daily from the airfield that would eventually become OIA.
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But while those flights were headed to Cuba, only one of them ended there – and it nearly brought the world to nuclear war.
The MCO in OIA
In 1962, OIA didn't exist. The airfield on that land was McCoy Air Force Base – a designation that lives on today in Orlando International's Airport code, MCO.
On October 14, 1962, a U2 spy plane flew from California over Cuba, photographing military installations from high altitude. That U2 landed at McCoy Air Force Base at the end of its mission
When its film was processed, the images showed for the first time the construction of Soviet missile installations. Those pictures ignited the Cuban Missile Crisis.
As the crisis deepened over 13 days in October 1962, McCoy Air Force Base became a center of activity with US fighters, bombers and spy planes all deployed there.
The Cuba Flight that never returned
On October 27, Maj. Rudolf Anderson Jr. took off from McCoy in an U2 for an over flight of Cuba to take more military surveillance pictures.
While flying over Banes, Cuba, Major Anderson's plane was destroyed by a surface to air missile. He was killed, becoming the only casualty caused by enemy fire during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The downing of Anderson's U2 came at the very height of the crisis. Fortunately, a day later - on October 28 - diplomatic efforts led to the Soviet Union backing down and announcing it would remove the missile installations.
Major Anderson's body was returned to the United States after the crisis ended. President John F. Kennedy posthumously awarded Anderson the Air Force Cross commendation.
50 years later
This week, Orlando International Airport announced that it had received approval from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office to offer passenger air service between Orlando and Cuba.
Orlando International (MCO) would become the seventh airport in Florida to offer passenger service to Cuba. While the airport has approval for the flights, there are none scheduled and no carriers have said they plan to offer service.
Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Executive Director Phil Brown said in a statement, "Orlando International Airport can now provide more convenient access to Cuba for Cuban born residents in Central Florida."
There was no mention of Major Anderson's last flight from MCO.