Helicopter CH-47A 66-19069


Information on U.S. Army helicopter CH-47A tail number 66-19069
The Army purchased this helicopter 0367
Total flight hours at this point: 00000729
Date: 04/26/1968
Incident number: 680426151ACD Accident case number: 680426151 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 339 TC
This was a Accident incident.
The station for this helicopter was Pleiku / CP Schmidt in South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: ZA186533 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48PZA186533)
Number killed in accident = 10 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 6
costing 1613237
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:
P CW4 CRULL DALE ALTON KIA
P CW2 BROWN ROBERT LEE KIA
CE SP4 CREASON JESS WILLIAM JR KIA
C SP6 APRILLIANO ANJELO JOSEPH KIA
PX SP5 DEWEESE WILLIAM CHARLES KIA

Passengers and/or other participants:
SP5 STILES MICHAEL PAUL, AR, PX, KIA
SSG WINCHESTER LARRY ALDEN, AR, PX, KIA
PFC MILLER FRED ANTHONY, AR, PX, KIA
SFC MILLER EDDIE LEE, AR, PX, KIA
PFC DRAPER WILFRED, AR, PX, KIA


Accident Summary:

After replacing two engine gear boxes to transmission drive shafts and reinspecting, the aircraft departed on the flight. It was observed to explode and fall to the ground burning. The rotor blades became desynchronized due to lack of lubrication in the combining transmission.


War Story:
The helicopter 66-19069 was stationed at Camp Holloway near Pleiku. I was the aircraft commander on this aircraft earlier in the day before it crashed. After dropping off a sling load as we was leaving a firebase west of Kontum Vietnam a horrible sound came from the back. I circled and landed on the firebase. The blades came to a halt as if a rotor break had been applied, smoothly without a sudden stop. The right nose-box transmission the part of the combining transmission were white hot. A team from the 339th transportation company attached to the 179th ASHC came up in another chinook with repair parts. After off loading the parts I continued my mission in the second aircraft they brought. The fire-base had been run over recently and was not a safe place at night. The team completed the repairs after dark. After a run-up and checking chip detectors the team attempted to fly home. The entire team was loaded on the aircraft and attempted to fly 30 miles back to Camp Holloway SE of Pleiku. About 15 miles into the flight the new combining transmission failed with catastrophic results. It was determined the replacement transmission, a rebuild from the US, had a defective oil lubrication port. From: Roger Lesch

This record was last updated on 12/03/2109


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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


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