Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 64-13599
Date: 05/27/1966
Incident number: 0E854ACD Accident case number: 0E854 Total Loss Accident
Unit: 155 AHC
South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 7 . . Injured = 3 . . Passengers = 6
costing 239921
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army Aviation Safety Center database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Summary: On takeoff from confined area near The Oasis, aircraft failed to clear tall trees and crashed.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC W1 DE HELTON
AC WO1 CASWELL EUGENE WILLIAM KIA
CE PFC DABNEY RICHARD EARL JR INJ
G E3 RC LUCE
Passengers and/or other participants:
X2 PHER, , PX, KIA
X1 LOI LT, , PX, KIA
X2 PHUI, PAX, 2
X2 TOI, , PX, KIA
X2 DOI, , PX, KIA
X2 AMER, , PX, KIA
War Story:
From 8 May 66 through 30 June 66, the 155 AHC operated from Camp Holloway, Pleiku in general support of the 25th Infantry Division, with time out for battalion operations with the 22d Division ARVN on 19 May in the vicinity of Bong Son. Tragedy struck the company on 27 May 66 during a troop lift south of Pleiku near fire base Oasis. WO Eugene W. Caswell was killed when the aircraft he was flying failed to clear tall trees in the takeoff path from a confined area and crashed. Crew chief, PFC Robert C. Luce, and gunner, PFC Richard E. Dabney, Jr. were severely burned in the crash and required medical evacuation to Nha Trang. PFC Dabney subsequently died on 3 June 66 while enroute to an Army hospital in San Antonio, Texas. from History of the 155th Aviation Company 1 Jan 66 - 31 Dec 66.
This record was last updated on 11/10/2000
This information is available on CD-ROM.
Additional information is available on KIAs at http://www.coffeltdatabase.org
Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.
KIA statistics
Return to the KIA panel date index
Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association