In this episode of FBI Case File Review, retired agent Tom Clark reviews the history of FBI Aviation, when in the early 1970s, Director Clarence Kelly authorized the establishment of a formalized aviation program.
Tom pays tribute to retired agent Tom Drumm, the “Father of Bureau Aviation,” and provides details about the dawn of police aviation, the first Bureau use of aircraft, the initial FBI Headquarters resistance, building of the fleet, and how agent pilots use aviation assets to support Bureau operations, to include surveillance, photographic support, and executive transport. Tom Drumm was a Naval Aviator fighter pilot before joining the FBI as a special agent. He was recalled to active duty in the military and sent to Vietnam. Upon his return to service, he was assigned to develop the Bureau Aircraft Operations Program.
Tom Clark, along with retired agents Tom Lott and Russell Atanasio, and former agent Bill Allen, also share fascinating aviation surveillance stories from their agent pilot careers. April 1, 2026, marked the FBI Aviation Program’s 50th anniversary. Tom Drumm was transferred to FBIHQ on April 1, 1976 to implement the program.
I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to record and preserve these historically significant true crime tales and acknowledge the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI’s support of this podcast project, especially Executive Director Nancy Savage who suggested the episode, and elected Society President Michael Anderson. Both have been guests on FBI Case File Review. The Society’s 2026 calendar commemorated the 50th anniversary of the FBI’s aviation program with articles and images of FBI aircraft and agent pilots.
The following are articles about the FBI Aviation Program:
FBI.gov Website: FBI’s Aviation Program Marks 50 Years
FBI.gov Website:– 6/4/2015: FBI Aviation Program: Purpose and Scope
Special Agent Thomas E. Clark (Retired): 4/1972 – 6/1995
Retired agent Thomas E. Clark served in the FBI for 23 years. He began his Bureau career in April 1972 in the San Francisco Division at the Oakland Resident Agency. He then transferred to the Chicago Division, where he served as a Special Agent and pilot, advancing his aviation expertise in support of investigative operations.
Tom was next promoted to FBI Headquarters as a supervisor in the FBI’s Aviation Unit, expanding the work of his predecessor, Tom Drumm, who developed the program and is known as the “Father of Bureau Aviation.” After three and a half years, he returned to the field as an agent and pilot in the Dallas Division and eventually assumed leadership of the Abilene Resident Agency as the Senior Resident Agent while continuing his aviation duties. He led the Abilene RA until his retirement.
In this episode he reviews the early days of the FBI’s aviation program and a kidnapping case where the ransom money was delivered, but Tom and his co-pilot were given the responsibility of continuing to conduct an aerial surveillance of the kidnappers until the victims were rescued.
Special Agent Bill Allen (Former): 1978 – 1988
Former agent Bill Allen served in the FBI for 10 years. His first field office was Cincinnati, where he was the aviation coordinator. After a special assignment to support the FBI’s mission at the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980, Bill volunteered for a transfer to the New York Field Office, which was expanding its aviation operations. He flew fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. In 1987, he was promoted to FBIHQ as supervisor for safety, standards, and training in the Aviation Unit. He later transferred to the White-Collar desk in Jackson Division, where he received a job offer from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi and left the Bureau in September 1991. He retired as Criminal Chief for the USAO in 2004.
After a heart attack in 1988, Bill stopped flying, except for a 30-minute ride in a Tiger Moth from RAF Duxford during a Battle of Britain tour.
Bill recounts his fascinating FBI assignment to land a helicopter inside the grounds of a federal penitentiary to thwart an escape plan by staging a fake breakout. The following are news articles about the case:
UPI Archives – July 16, 1986: The son of a reputed mob associate was ordered held without bail
UPI Archives – July 17, 1986: Teen held in helicopter attack plot to break father out of prison
Special Agent Russell Atanasio (Retired): 8/1988 – 10/2008
Retired agent Russell Atanasio served in the FBI for 20 years. His first office was the New York Field Office (NYO), where he worked on a South American drug trafficking squad on an OC OCEDFT for 3 years and then went to the Surveillance Operations Group (SOG) as a surveillance pilot. He was also on the NYO SWAT team. Russell was later selected for the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and served as an HRT operator for nearly three years.
Following that assignment, Russell’s wife, who is also a retired agent, received specialty transfer orders to the Denver Division, where Russell worked for 3 years on an organized crime squad primarily focused on Mexican drug trafficking. He was also on the Denver Division SWAT team before being reassigned to SOG again as a surveillance pilot. In early 2004, he transferred to CIRG’s Special Flight Operations Unit (SFOU) which was formerly ASPG, the night stalker unit. He flew worldwide in support of many Bureau cases, as well as transporting the Director and the U.S. Attorney General. Russell finished his career in the unit.
Russell reviews an aviation assignment in New York involving the investigation of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. He was the primary eye in the airplane during the surveillance of a suspected terrorist. To avoid being “burned,” Russell requested ground surveillance units to back off, and he and his co-pilot followed the subject to a location. When the NYO SWAT hit the house, the terrorists were making bombs. If he had lost this subject, the attackers could have proceeded with their plan with possible catastrophic death and injury results.
Russell also describes flying in formation and the missing man tribute, which honors FBI pilots and all FBI agents who are no longer with us, a true tribute to Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity.
Special Agent Tom Lott (Retired): 1979 – 2007
Retired agent Tom Lott served in the FBI for 28 years. After entering on duty in August 1979 and being assigned to the Detroit Field Office, his skills as a pilot were immediately utilized to fly surveillance for various investigations. After nine years in Detroit, he transferred to El Paso where he worked violent crimes, drug investigations, and terrorism matters until he retired.
In this episode, he reviews a 1980 aviation assignment where he conducted an air-to-air surveillance from Detroit to Miami and back. The investigation resulted in an arrest, drug seizure, and the seizure of a rare Beechcraft Staggerwing aircraft. This was the first and possibly only time the FBI had conducted a long-term air-to-air surveillance, running over 3 days.
.
