HUWYLER JOSEF S

Click here for more information about this incident

Name: WO1 Josef S. Huwyler
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 10/21/1965 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 23.4
Date of Birth: 06/12/1942
Home City: Watertown, NY
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: A/1 AVN, 52 CAB
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Flight class: 65-4W
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 02E-128
Short Summary: During a recon of an LZ near Plei Me, the main rotor separated from the ship at 2,000 ft. All died in the crash and explosion.
Aircraft: UH-1B tail number 63-08647
Call sign: FALCON
Service number: W3152492
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: *
Primary cause: A/C Accident
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Started Tour: 07/19/1965
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
Location: Pleiku Province II Corps.

Additional information about this casualty:
The unit history reads as follows: "On the morning of 21 Oct, Company A was called on to lift 240 ARVN Airborne Rangers from Camp Holloway to an LZ four kilometers north of the besieged camp. During the reconnaissance of the LZ one UH-1B (armed) of Company A suffered mechanical failure which resulted in seperation of the main rotor from the aircraft at 2000 feet absolute altitude. The helicopter crashed and exploded on impact. The aircraft was commanded by ... This crew was the first lost by Company A in the Republic of Vietnam." The official name for this helicopter company when this event occured was Company A, 1st Aviation Battalion but on 20 Nov it would be redesignated the 155th Aviation Company (Air Mobile Light).

Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Episcopal (Anglican)
Burial information: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: warrant officer
This record was last updated on 11/10/2000

This information is available on CD-ROM.

Additional information is available on KIAs at http://www.coffeltdatabase.org

Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.

KIA statistics

Return to the Helicopter Pilot KIA name list

Return to the KIA panel date index

Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023