Key West to Cuba flight saves Pan Am

On October 19, 1927 to fulfill its contract with the U.S. Post Office, Pan American Airlines hired pilot Cy Caldwell to fly a single-engine seaplane from Key West to Havana. He left Key West at 8:04 a.m. carrying seven sacks of mail, containing about thirty thousand letters. He landed in Havana sixty-two minutes later and saved the airline which could not begin regular service with its own planes until October 28.