Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 65-12863
The Army purchased this helicopter 0966
Total flight hours at this point: 00003058
Date: 11/24/1969
Incident number: 691124211ACD Accident case number: 691124211 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 118 AHC
The station for this helicopter was Bien Hoa in
Number killed in accident = 4 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 1
costing 452096
Source(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Army Aviation Safety Center database.
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P WO1 PERKINS ALLEN DEAN KIA
P WO1 ARMSTRONG CHARLES JOSEPH KIA
CE SP4 BARRERA RAUL ROY JR KIA
G SP4 GONZALES FILBERT MICHAEL KIA
Passengers and/or other participants:
O4 BP HANCOCK, LCO, G
Accident Summary:
THE UH-1D, ^66-771^, PILOTED BY CAPTAIN ^LEMIEUX^ AND ^LT WILCOX^, DEPARTED ^SPARTAN^ HELIPORT AT ^0730 HOURS^ ON ^24 NOVEMBER 1969^ AS THE LEAD AIRCRAFT IN A FLIGHT OF EIGHT. THEY WERE FOLLOWED BY A UH-1D, ^65-12,63^, PILOTED BY ^WO PERKINS^ AND ^WO ARMSTRONG^, FLYING AS CHOCK TWO. THEY WERE ENROUTE TO ^XUAN LOC, RVN^, TO PERFORM A COMBAT ASSAULT OPERATION IN SUPPORT OF THE ^199TH LT INF, BDE^. THE AIRCRAFT CONFIGURATION AT THE TIME OF DEPARTURE WAS WITHOUT PASSENGERS, BASIC AIRCRAFT AND A FULL LOAD OF FUEL. THE FLIGHT DEPARTED ^SPARTAN^ HELIPAD WITH A NORTH DEPARTURE AND A WEST TURNOUT. AT APPROXIMATELY ^0740 HOURS^. THE FIRST FOUR AIRCRAFT HAD JOINED IN A DIAMOND FORMATION AT 300 FEET INDICATED AND 60 KNOTS. ^CPT LEMIEUX^ THEN ACCELERATED THE FLIGHT TO 80 KNOTS AND RELINQUISHED THE CONTROLS TO HIS PILOT, ^LT WILCOX^. IT IS UNKNOWN, NOR CAN IT BE ESTABLISHED, WHO WAS THE PILOT AT THE CONTROLS OF CHOCK TWO. THE FLIGHT WAS FLYING A HEADING OF 055 DEGREES AT THE TIME OF THE MISHAP. IT WAS NOTICED BY SEVERAL WITNESSES IN TRAILING SHIPS THAT PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT, CHOCK TWO WAS FLYING EXTREMELY CLOSE TO THE LEAD AIRCRAFT. AT ^0745 HOURS^, AS THE FLIGHT WAS PASSING APPROXIMATELY ONE NAUTICAL MILE NORTH OF PLANTATION HELIPORT, THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES OF CHOCK TWO CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE TIP OF ONE MAIN ROTOR BLADE OF THE LEAD AIRCRAFT. AS A RESULT OF MESHING ROTOR BLADES, CHOCK TWO BEGAN TO BANK RIGHT AND DESCEND RAPIDLY. IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER, THE MAIN ROTOR ASSEMBLY AND TRANSMISSION SEPARATED FROM CHOCK TWO. THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES STRUCK THE TAIL BOOM THREE TIMES AND SHEARED ITS TAILBOOM AFT OF THE SYNCHRONIZED ELEVATOR. DUE TO SEVERE MAST BUMPING, THE MAST WAS SHEARED JUST BELOW THE MAIN ROTOR HEAD, SEPARATING THE MAIN ROTOR SYSTEM FROM THE MAIN TRANSMISSION. THE AIRCRAFT CAUGHT FIRE IN FLIGHT. ONE CREWMEMBER WAS OBSERVED LEAVING THE SHIP DURING THE DESCENT AT APPROXIMATELY 10-20 FEET. UPON IMPACT, THE UH-1D HIT THE GROUND LEVEL, IN A SLIGHT RIGHT SIDE LOW ATTITUDE IN A HEADING OF 060 DEGREES. THE SHIP EXPLODED AND WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES, OTHER AIRCRAFT OF THE FLIGHT LANDED IMMEDIATELY AND RESCUE ATTEMPTS WERE MADE BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL DUE TO THE INTENSITY OF THE FIRE. AN AIR FORCE RESCUE HELICOPTER ARRIVED FROM ^BIEN HOA^ AIR BASE WITHIN FIVE MINUTES AND FOAMED THE BURNING WRECKAGE. NO MOVEMENT WAS OBSERVED IN THE AIRCRAFT. THE UH-1D BURNED COMPLETELY BEFORE FIRE TRUCKS ARRIVED FROM ^PLANTATION ARMY^ AIRFIELD TO COMPLETELY CONTAIN THE FIRE. SUBSEQUENT TO THE BLADE STRIKE, ^CPT ^LEMIEUX^ TOOK THE CONTROLS AND HIS AIRCRAFT WENT INTO A DESCENDING LEFT HAND TURN. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO BE LOSING ROTOR RPM AND IT HAD A SEVERE VIBRATION IN THE TRANSMISSION AREA. ^CPT ^LEMIEUX^ HAD NO PEDAL CONTROL AND ONLY ABLE TO MOVE HIS CYCLIC IN A RADIUS OF 2 OR 3 INCHES. HE WAS NOT ABLE TO LOWER HIS COLLECTIVE. BEFORE MAKING CONTACT WITH THE GROUND, HE WAS ABLE TO DIMINISH THE FORWARD AIRSPEED OF HIS AIRCRAFT. AT APPROXIMATELY 5 FEET AGL, ALL REMAINING COLLECTIVE PITCH, APPROXIMATELY 7 INCHES, WAS APPLIED TO CUSHION THE AIRCRAFT'S IMPACT. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED EXTREMELY HARD ON A HEADING OF 240 DEGREES, TEARING THE TAILBOOM FORWARD OF THE SYNCHRONIZED ELEVATOR AND CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO PITCH FORWARD, AND THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES STRUCK THE GROUND THREE TIMES. ^LT WILCOX'S^ SEAT WAS PULLED BACK AND ALL THE CREW MEMBERS WERE CLEAR OF THE AIRCRAFT, ^CPT LEMIEUX^, UTILIZING THE AIRCRAFT FIRE EXTINGUISHER, PUT OUT A FIRE IN THE ENGINE AREA CAUSED BY FOREIGN OBJECTS PENETRATING THE COMPRESSOR WALL.\\
This record was last updated on 09/20/1998
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