Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A tail number 67-16339
The Army purchased this helicopter 0968
Total flight hours at this point: 00001180
Date: 05/10/1971
Incident number: 710510041ACD Accident case number: 710510041 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: C/7/17 CAV
The station for this helicopter was An Son in South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BS629003 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBS629003)
Number killed in accident = 1 . . Injured = 2 . . Passengers = 1
costing 154221
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: Pilot lost control of the aircraft in a crosswind condition and crashed into tall trees.
Loss to Inventory and Helicopter was not recovered
Crew Members:
AC W1 TW WIGGS
OB SP4 STARCHER DAVID WAYNE KIA
CE E4 RC MUCKENFUSS
Accident Summary:
In accordance with witness statement, the following discussion is submitted. The accident occurred while the pilot was conducting a combat visual reconnaissance mission. While flying the lead LOH, the pilot observed a recently used trail. He followed the trail up to a tree line at the top of a ridge. Then orbiting to the right around a bunker, He called in a spot report on the bunker. Thinking he might have taken fire, he steepened his turn to the right abruptly, about 25 feet above the ground while flying approximately 30 knots. His turn took him from a downwind to a crosswind situation; he went into a severe spin to the right. At first the pilot felt he could fly out of the spin, as he had on similar occasions in the past, by decreasing power and gaining airspeed. His attempts to accomplish such were futile; just prior to impacting a tree, he announced the realization that the aircraft was out of control. As the aircraft spun, the back seat observer threw two boxes of 7.62 ball ammunition and one box of grenades from the aircraft to lighten the load. The aircraft hit a tree. Upon initial impact, the pilot's inertia reel failed to lock and his face hit the cyclic stick, knocking him temporarily unconscious. Then the aircraft rolled backward, snapping off the tail boom and rotor blades, till the fuselage came to rest 250 feet down slope, in the bottom of a rocky ravine and stream bed. During the above sequence of events neither crew members from the wing LOH, nor the crew chief of the downed LOH, saw or heard any enemy fire. Sometime between the initial impact and the settling of the aircraft, the observer was thrown out of the aircraft, and sustained injuries, from which he later died. The pilot of the scout put his observer on the ground to aid the casualties. After assisting the pilot and crew chief from their respective seats in the aircraft, the wing observer searched until he found the lead observer approximately 50 feet up the hill lying conscious in some rocks; his chicken plate was lodged against a stump. Two more observers and the C&C crew chief were put on the ground to assist the injured until the Blues could be inserted to secure the area and medical evacuation could be effected. The wing LOH carried the aerial observer, who was the most critically injured of the three, to a place where a Dustoff helicopter could evacuate him. He subsequently died at LZ English, B Med. Next the pilot was removed by a hoist. The crew chief was carried by several of the infantrymen, to a small clearing, where he was evacuated by another LOH. As the Blues walked back to the LZ, they could hear enemy rustling in the bushes all around them. The Blues, having recovered radios and weapons from the aircraft, were extracted. The wreckage was left unrecovered.
This record was last updated on 01/07/2000
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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