Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 65-10020
The Army purchased this helicopter 0766
Total flight hours at this point: 00001893
Date: 03/01/1969 MIA-POW file reference number: 1394
Incident number: 690301151ACD Accident case number: 690301151 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 174 AHC
The station for this helicopter was Duc Pho in South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BS634538 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBS634538)
Number killed in accident = 9 . . Injured = 2 . . Passengers = 7
costing 742345
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense
Intelligence Agency Reference Notes. Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army
Aviation Safety Center database. Also: 1394, OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC WO1 DAVIS RAY RENE KIA
P WO1 HARRIS EDWARD LEWIS KIA
CE SP4 ZARINA DONN PETER KIA
G PFC SCHULZE DAVID EDWARD KIA
Passengers and/or other participants:
E4 DH HOTCH, PAX, D
SGT GOODE RODNEY MICHAEL, AR, PX, KIA
SP4 GROSS JIMMY RAY, AR, PX, KIA
E4 JD BICKERS, PAX, D
CPL LOVEGREN DAVID EUGENE, AR, PX, BNR
SP4 GAINES THOMAS LEE JR, AR, PX, KIA
CPL CRAFT JAMES ADOLPH, AR, PX, KIA
REFNO Synopsis:
LOVEGREN, DAVID EUGENE
Name: David Eugene Lovegren
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 21 March 1949
Home City of Record: Portland OR
Date of Loss: 01 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145646N 1084823E (BS641534)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Cpl. David E. Lovegren was a passenger aboard a UH1H helicopter that
crashed on March 1, 1969 in Quang Ngai Province about 5 miles southwest of Mo
Duc. No enemy activity was associated with the crash of the aircraft. Lovegren
was killed.
During the recovery operation, Lovegren's body was being hoisted onboard the
extraction helicopter when the lifting device dropped his remains about 1,000
meters from the extraction point. An effort was made to relocate and recover
Lovegren's body, but hostile forces were in the loss area, and Lovegren could
not be recovered. David E. Lovegren is listed with honor among the missing
because no body has ever been returned to his homeland for burial.
Search and recovery efforts in Vietnam were the best and most successful ever
seen in wartime. They were so successful, in fact, that the numbers of those
remaining missing in action were dramatically reduced over previous wars.
Accident Summary:
THE AIRCRAFT, PILOTED BY ^WO1 HARRIS^ AND ^WO1 DAVIS^ WAS FLYING ^1/20 INFANTRY BATTALION^ COMMAND ACONTROL. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT THE AIRCRAFT WAS BEING USED TO EXCHANGE PERSONNEL ON AN O.P. AT COORDINATES BS641534. THE AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN INTO THE LOCATION ON ONE PREVIOUS PERSONNEL DROP OFF AND WAS RETURNING WITH THE REMAINDER OF PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT. ON THE FIRST DROP OFF AT THE O. P. THE APPRAOCH WAS MADE TO THE SOUTHEAST WHICH PUT THE AIRCRAFT INTO THE WIND AND NO APPARENT PROBLEMS WERE REPORTED. ON THE SECOND LIFT ONTO THE O.P. THE APPROACH WAS STARTED TO THE NORTHWEST, WHICH PUT THE AIRCRAFT DOWNWIND. THE APPROACH WAS APPARENTLY OVERSHOT BY WHOEVER HAD CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT AT THE TIME. THE PILOT IN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT APPARENTLY TRIED TO MAKE A PEDAL TURN TO GET BACK ON THE O.P. AT THIS TIME IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE AIRCRAFT LOST POWER AND BEGAN LOSING ALTITUDE. APPROXIMATELY 50 METERS DOWN THE HILL THE MAIN ROTOR STRUCK THE GROUND, SLIGHTLY FURTHER THE MAIN FUSELAGE MADE IMPACT AND STARTED TO BREAK APART. A FIRE OCCURRED AND THE MAIN PORTION OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE. THE TWO SURVIVORS WERE REMOVED BY MEDEVAC SHORTLY AFTERWARDS FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT.\\
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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