Helicopter UH-1D 66-16038


Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 66-16038
The Army purchased this helicopter 0267
Total flight hours at this point: 00002490
Date: 02/24/1971
Incident number: 710224211ACD Accident case number: 710224211 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: A/3/17 CAV
The station for this helicopter was Quan Loi in South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: XT762883 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48PXT762883)
Number killed in accident = 7 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 3
costing 590945
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 WO1 GOELZ STEVEN WILLIAM KIA
CP WO1 BENNETT THOMAS EVANS KIA
CE SP4 GREEN VERNON ANDREW KIA
G SP4 KEYS MICHAEL HENRY KIA
PX SP5 JAKEL CRAIG JAMES KIA

Passengers and/or other participants:
CPT WILSHER JOSEPH MICHAEL, AR, PP, KIA
WO1 HAKES CLARENCE DEAN, AR, PP, KIA


Accident Summary:

 ^WO1 GOELZ^ PERSON IN CAHRGE OF ^038^ WAS ENROUTE TO QUAN LOI, LEAVING PHU LOI APPROXIMATELY AT 1750 HOURS ON 24 FEBRUARTY 1971. HE OBTAINED AN ASR VECTOR FROM PHUOC VINH GCA PROBABLY BECAUSE PIREPS WERE INDICATION A LARGE STORM MOVING FROM THE SSW TOWARD THE NA LOC, WUAN LOI AREA. THE PHUOC VINH RADAR OPERATOR ATTEMPTED TO VECTOR ^038^ AROUND THE APPARENT STORM CELLS, BUT WITH DIFFICUTLY. HE WAS UNABLE TO PICK UP A TRANSPONDER SIGNAL FROM ^038^ SO HE LOWERED HIS SCREEN INTENSITY IN AN EFFORT TO UTILITZE ONLY THE IMAGE PRODUCED BY HIS RADAR. WHEN THE AIRCRAFT REACHED THE QUAN LOI AREA THE PILOT REQUESTED TO DESCEND TO 1700 FEET. AT THIS TIME RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST AND THE RADAR OPERATOR BEGAN CALLING ^038^ ON GUARD. AIRCRAFT ^038^ APPROACHED THE AN LOC AIRSTRIP ON A HEADING OF ABOUT 260 DEGREES, (THE AIRSTRIP RUNNING 05 AND 23.) IT APPEARED TO BE MAKING A NORMAL APPROACH. THEN ABOUT 20 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND THE AIRCRAFT YAWED TO THE RIGHT, (A SMALL EXPLOSION WASHEARD AND FIRE WAS SIGHTED AT THIS TIME), DIPPED ITS NOSE TO ABOUT 045 DEGREES BELOW THE HORIZON, ROLLED SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT AND FELL STRAIGHT DOWN EXPLODING UPON IMPACT. THE CRASH DISTRIBUTION WAS EXTEEMELY COMPACT INDICATING VERY LITTTLE IF ANY FORWARD GROUND SPEED. UPON IMPACT THE ENGINE LEFT THE AIRCRAFT ROLLING BACKWARD, PAST THE TAILBOOM. ALSO THE RIGHT CARGO DOOR FLEW UP AND BEHIND THE AIRCRAFT. IT MAY BE NOTED THAT THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT SLIDE THROUGH THE PERIMETER WIRE BUT REMAINED IN THE AREA OF INITIAL IMPACT. THE PILOT AND CO-POLIT WERE CONTAINED WITHIN THE CAVIN AREA. THREE OF THE PASSENGERS WERE FOUND BENEATH THE REANSMISSION COMPONENTS THE OTHER TWO WERE THROWN OUT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE AIRCRAFT. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED HERE THAT THE MAIN ROTOR AND TRANSMISION COMPONENTS WERE INITIALLY WITH THE MAIN WREAKAGE. IT WAS MOVED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE REMOVAL OF THREE BODIES.\\

This record was last updated on 09/20/1998


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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


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