Information on U.S. Army helicopter CH-47B tail number 67-18457
The Army purchased this helicopter 1167
Total flight hours at this point: 00000265
Date: 07/01/1968
Incident number: 680701131ACD Accident case number: 680701131 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 178 ASHC
This was a Accident incident.
The station for this helicopter was Chu Lai in South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BS394797 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBS394797)
Number killed in accident = 5 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 0
costing 1328400
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: Mid-air with UH-1C 66-00740 during decent into an LZ, 4 injured on the Huey.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P 1LT EOFF WILLIAM BRADFORD JR KIA
P WO1 BOYTER GEDDES CHARLES JR KIA
CE SP4 OSTRANDER MORRIS EDWARD KIA
G SP4 BURNHAM RICHARD FLOYD JR KIA
FE SP4 PULS ROBERT LAWRENCE KIA
Accident Summary:
CH-47 67-18457 entered the PZ area from the northwest and circled right. The two gunships were escorting Boxcar 38 out of the PZ area to the east. Boxcar 31 called that he was letting down. The gunship lead aircraft Musket 6, turned to the west at approximately 700 feet above the terrain. The second gunship, 66-740, started his turn to the west at approximately 700 feet above the terrain. The second gunship 66-740, started his turn to the west when musket 6 had passed his 90 degrees position. Southwest of the PZ, Musket 6 located Boxcar 31 at his 5 o'clock position in a right turn approximately 1700 feet. The second gunship 740 was headed approximately southwest at 700 feet absolute, and was starting an approximately 10 degrees right turn to circle the PZ. Musket 6 performed a steep right turn and observed that Boxcar 31 appeared to be descending too close to gunship 740. Boxcar 31 was apparently decelerating in a descending right turn with the gunship flying in a right turn also at 80 knots when it appeared that Boxcar 31 was going to pass too close to gunship 740, Musket 6 transmitted a warning to Boxcar 31, to watch out for the gunship under him. Boxcar 31 at this time was less than 50 feet above gunship 740. It appears that Boxcar 31 received the transmission as he apparently increased thrust control and applied aft cyclic. The CH-47 was above and to the rear of gunship 740 in the blindspot of the gunship. Boxcar 31's nose pitched up at this time, and the observer, Musket 6, stated that he thought the Boxcar pilots must have seen the gunship. The Boxcar 31 aircraft continued to descend with the nose of the aircraft coming down. The CH-47 forward rotor blades missed the main rotor blades of the gunship, however one of the CH-47 blades did strike the gunship tail rotor, driving it down into the left synchronized elevator of the gunship, and thereby accounting for the popping noise heard by one of the gunship crew members. The next blade of the CH-47 forward rotor hit the pylon and cut off the pylon including the tail rotor and the 90 degree gear box. The forward blade tip cap was thrown off and hit one of the gunship main rotors 14 inches inboard and seven inches from the trailing edge. It tore the blade trailing edge loose. The impact of the second blade forced the gunship tail boom down and to the left. The gunship continued flight for a short distance before the pilots initiated the power on flight autorotation. The CH-47 forward rotor blades were disintegrating as the nose of the CH-47 started to come down, the torque reaction from the aft rotor started the main frame to turn to the left on the longitudinal axis. It is assumed that the CH-47 was no longer flying at this time but was falling and the forward ground speed was reducing due to the mass of airframe presented to the forward velocity. Prior to falling below the tree level, the CH-47 was passing through the 90 degrees position with the main fuselage turned 90 degrees on the lonitudinal axis when flames burst out of the engine area enveloping the aft end to include the aft cargo door. The aft rotor was still in phase. As the nose end hit the trees the forward transmission, which had broken loose, fell off and the main fuselage continued approximately 50 meters in the direction of travel before the nose hit the ground tearing the forward section from the right door forward loose. The abrupt impact threw the gunner out the left window into the trees past the impact area of the main frame. The main frame buckled approximately 5 feet forward of the transmission and fell down the hill on the left side, ruptured the fuel cells and igniting the fuel to an intensity to ignite the magnesium alloy and melt most of the main frame and tail rotor.
This record was last updated on 06/28/2008
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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