Helicopter UH-1D 66-16253


Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 66-16253
The Army purchased this helicopter 0467
Total flight hours at this point: 00000488
Date: 04/05/1968
Incident number: 680405201ACD Accident case number: 680405201 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 192 AHC
The station for this helicopter was Da Nang in South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 3 . . Injured = 7 . . Passengers = 6
costing 413954
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. )
Loss to Inventory

Crew Members:
AC CW2 TIMM DAVID WILLIAM KIA
P W1 ROBINSON JOHN A
CE E5 GARBETT MATTHEW P JR
G E4 RIZKOVSKY ROY R

Passengers and/or other participants:
SGT GUYMON ALAN RUSSELL, AR, PX, KIA
SP4 HARLES HOWARD E, NOT, PAX, D
SP4 BAKER EDWARD A, PAX, D
1LT WHITEMAN DONALD, PAX, D
PFC HAVLICK JOHN CHARLES, AR, PX, KIA
PFC BURTON ARNOLD, PAX, D


Accident Summary:

On takeoff, the aircraft experienced an RPM drop. The main rotor struck trees, spun to the right and crashed. The pilot did not make a hover check prior to takeoff.


War Story:
Description of the Accident. Case No. 6804-05-20 from accident report. UH-1H Army Helicopter 66-16253 was involved in the contact of a combat assault extraction mission in support of two ARVN Companies and Co C/506th Inf. Initially a flight of 5 UH-1H's from the 192 AHC departed Phan Thiet Airport at 1415 hours, 5 April, to extract two companies of ARVN's from a three ship PZ located at coordinates AT 237261. The original five UH-1H's were joined on the third lift by four other UH-1H's making three flights of three's. 66-16253 was the third ship in the first flight. After dropping the third load of ARVN's at Phan Thiet Airport, the aircraft refueled., topping off at 1300 pounds. The flight led by CPT Hill, the Mission Commander, proceeded to the PZ and landed. They picked up their first load of American soldiers and had an ACL of 6. The flight departed the PZ single ship. The lead aircraft departed and experienced little difficulty. The second ship departed and lost RPM and sat it down in a small open area. 66-16253 departed on a heading of 020 degrees with WO Robinson at the controls. They cleared the barrier but were experiencing difficulty with RPM and at the same time were trying to locate the #2 aircraft. They turned West (left) and proceeded for 1000 meters, never regaining altitude. During this period CW2 Timm took control of the aircraft. Finally, the main rotor blade struck a tree approximately eight inches in diameter causing the blade to break and the helicopter to spin 760 degrees to the right. The tail boom struck the ground on the left front corning of the aircraft. The aircraft did not burn upon impact. The gunner was the first to exit the aircraft and signal other helicopters flying overhead. A ground party proceeded to the crash site and helped hoist or winch eight of the personnel into a "Dust Off" Aircraft hovering overhead. The remaining two personnel (both fatal) wee carried to the PZ and brought back to Phan Thiet.

This record was last updated on 07/25/2002


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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


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