Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A tail number 67-16253
The Army purchased this helicopter 0868
Total flight hours at this point: 00001954
Date: 05/24/1971
Incident number: 710524011ACD Accident case number: 710524011 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: B/7/17 CAV
The station for this helicopter was Camp Holloway in South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 2 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 1
costing 215021
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: Experienced an engine failure at high speed during a test flight, crashed hard and burst into flames.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P WO1 WESTRA LEROY JAMES INJ
CE SP4 SHORT RANDALL CHARLES KIA
Passengers and/or other participants:
O4 GP CARR, LCO, G
Accident Summary:
WO1 Westra and SP4 Short were making a morning test flight, checking for high-frequency vibrations. WO1 Westra called off Holloway Army Airfield at 0628 hours. The pilot then flew to an area 7 miles east-southeast of Pleiku where many test flights were conducted. He pulled a DER check and did a SED maneuver using maximum descent and maximum airspeed. As he started to recover from the maneuver, he lost RPM sustained an engine failure, a fire, and then entered autorotation. His flight time up to this point was 32 minutes. No emergency calls were heard by any aircraft in the Pleiku area or Holloway Army Airfield. The aircraft traveled 510 feet from initial impact point to final resting place. The point of impact was left of center-line on hard-packed, two-lane, dirt road running southwest to northwest. The heading of the skid marks and road is 305. The aircraft hit with sufficient vertical velocity to spread the skids and allow the belly to strike the ground within 10 feet of the initial contact point. The aircraft headed toward the center of the road and became airborne again. At 129 feet from initial impact, the right skid came in contact with the ground again and made skid marks an additional 165 feet. The aircraft then left the road and impacted the ditch on the right hand side. After impact in the ditch, the aircraft came to rest in the center of the road with an approximate heading of 250. After the aircraft made firm contact with the ground the pilot then got out of the aircraft and pulled the crew chief from the wreckage. The fuel line was not shut off. All aircraft instruments were destroyed in the fire and the following circuit breakers were popped: Warning Light and Instrument and AC Inverters. All major components were found in the main wreckage or were burned.
This record was last updated on 09/21/2000
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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