Information on U.S. Marine Corps helicopter CH-46D tail number 154835
Date: 04/19/1969
Incident number: 69041919.KIA
Unit: HMM-263
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
This was a Rescue and Recovery mission for Medical Evacuation
While in PickUp Zone this helicopter was at Hover at 0125 feet and 000 knots.
South Vietnam
Count of hits was not possible because the helicopter burned or exploded.
Small Arms/Automatic Weapons; Gun launched non-explosive ballistic projectiles less than 20 mm in size.
Systems damaged were: PERSONNEL, HYDRAULIC SYS
Casualties = 06 KIA . .
The helicopter made a Forced Landing. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Ultimate crash and burn - aircraft is capable of sustaining flight for a limited time after the incident, but finally results in crash and burn
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense
Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis
Center Helicopter database. Also: OPERA, NSC, CH46, JSIDR, CASRP (Naval Safety Center.
Operations Report. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. Casualty Report. )
Summary: Hit 7 KM north-northeast of Ha Tan Air Field, crashed 2 KM west-northwest of Thuong Duc.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P CPT HUIE ROBERT DOTSON JR KIA
AC MAJ TERHORST BERNARD REINHOLD KIA
C HMC ANGELLEY GERALD DWAIN KIA
C CPL GALLION GAYLEN RAY KIA
C LCP HENDERSON ARTHUR FRANKLIN KIA
Passengers and/or other participants:
LCP ROLSTAD THEODORE S, MC, C , KIA
War Story:
The POPASMOKE incident reads:
CH-46 was on Medevac on Charley Ridge W of DaNang. A/C was hit multiple times in broom closet area. Both hydraulic systems shot away. One lost immediately, second gradually lost pressure. A/C remained airborne for some time (15-20 minutes?) while crew tried to get to suitable runway. A/C became more and more uncontrollable as #2 hydraulics bled away. Bernie was going to try to roll it on at Thuong Duc SF camp dirt runway above 40 knots. (The NATOPS recommended procedure in event of no hydraulics landing). An ARMY Caribou was sitting in the middle of the runway there and nobody could raise them on any freq including guard to get him off the runway. They ran out of hydraulics, luck, and time soon after that, rolled inverted, and went in. Submitted by John Van Nortwick, HMM-263 Squadron S-3 at the time of incident.
I was flying gunner in the lead bird of a flight of 2 CH-46s flying medevacs. The missions prior to the incident had been quiet ones, so much so that the chase plane's crew was getting bored. They asked to switch to lead on the next mission and did. The next mission was to be a cable extraction through the trees because there was no clearing large enough in which to land. The grunts on the ground said they hadn't received any enemy fire in several hours so no one expected what happened. MAJ Terhorst maneuvered into a hover over a hole in the jungle canopy. The crewchief lowered the cable and the Marines on the ground hooked up the wounded man. As the wounded man was being hoisted up, the entire perimeter erupted with muzzle flashes. To make a long story short, they took numerous hits and the pilot tried to fly back to the lowlands and attempt a landing. However, the hydraulics systems had been shot out and it was impossible to control the plane. They suddenly did about 359 degrees of a 360 degree loop and crashed in a giant fireball. All six aboard died instantly. Submitted by Joe Goins, Gunner on lead ship in formation (HMM-263)
This record was last updated on 07/31/2000
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 KIA panel date index
Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association