More detail on this person: UH-1 helicopter crash in West Germany while acting as a pilot. He
was stationed with the 2nd Plt., 421st Medevac Co./unit (Air Ambulance) at the Schweinfurt AAF along
with D Trp., 3/7 Cav. of which I was a member and Commo Chief. I was/am very familiar with the
details of the tragic accident he, his co-pilot, WO1 Desmond P. Downey, Crew Chief Spec. 5 Earl D.
Rankhorn and Flight Medic Spec. 5 Harvey J. Salas were involved in. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
10/11/2026
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CW2 Johnson and his crew were scrambled in the early hours of 15 March 1975 to respond to an
accident on a German highway (not sure if it was the Autobahn or not) involving (2) GI's who flipped
a jeep while drunk from what I remember. When they were known to be overdue a second Medevac
Huey was launched approximately 1 hour later with that Huey commanded by Capt. George Wise (XO,
2/421st). They followed the flight route/plan of Johnson's Huey and came across a still burning
wreck. They apparently had a "blade strike" and crashed and burned. It was determined that Johnson
was dead along with the other crew members - SP5 Rankin, crew chief, who had Nam experience,
apparently dove back into the "safety" of the "hell hole" of the Huey - the side area behind the
engine/transmission but when the chopper crashed it rolled and he was crushed underneath. SP5
Salas, flight medic, was found outside the chopper and was decapitated by the still rotating blades
apparently. WO1 Downey was found with his hand held strobe beacon from his survivor vest in his
hand. It was a horrific accident and deeply affected many of us from both units who knew and were
friends with the crew. As I recall, CW2 Johnson had recently become a father to a son - he would be
41 years old now having grown up without his dad. WO1 Downey was a fellow New Yorker (I live out on
Long Island) so we were "homies". In researching his family's whereabouts out in Seattle, Wa., I
was able to correspond with his younger brother. Their father was an Army officer and for a time an
instructor at West Point. WO Downey was a really nice guy - he was not caught up in the ego of
being an officer and helicopter pilot and always had a smile. SP5 Rankin was from the backwoods of
Kentucky or West Virginia and had been a crew chief in our unit D - 3/7 Cav. and re-upped to get
into 2/421st. He was a really nice guy as well - very professional and a good friend to us all.
SP5 Salas was a good friend of my best friend in my unit who was of Mexican descent like Salas. He
always enjoyed a good time and was a good friend. The 2/421st was a very "strac" unit - the
personnel were extremely professional and good friends to us all. They shared our hanger (former
Luftwaffe hanger during WWII) and the care they gave their equipment impressed everyone. Their
Huey's were polished, and the (2) ready choppers were always in line in their side of the hanger
with the front one being hooked up with towbars to their jeep. Their protocol was that the on duty
crew had to be cranking up within 8 minutes of an emergency call. Those crew members who lived off
post would stay in their ready room during their tours. When a call came in the CQ runner would
open the massive hanger doors and pull the duty Huey out onto the hardstand. There he would remove
all blade tie downs and open the a/c doors to facilitate immediate departure of the medevac - the
chopper was even "pre-flighted" to save time! In the days that followed the accident, the wreckage
of the Huey was placed on the floor of our hanger. I remember seeing all the broken pieces and
thinking that there wasn't but a few pieces larger than a foot square. I remember speaking with one
of the guys who accompanied one of the crew back to stateside and it was rough to say the very
least. I don't think I could have done it but I'm glad that it is done and that there were guys who
could do it. It was a very sad time and one I shall never forget. They were good men doing their
duty to save other people and they were proud to do it. I shall be thinking of each of them this
Memorial Day as is befitting.
From: Robert H. Cornell