Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 66-00870
The Army purchased this helicopter 1066
Total flight hours at this point: 00002229
Date: 04/27/1970
Incident number: 70042777.KIA
Unit: 281 AHC
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BR064327 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBR064327)
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P CW2 GARDNER ROBERT WAYNE KIA
P WO1 MILLER STANLEY JOSEPH JR KIA
CE SP5 TOM GEORGE WILLIAM KIA
G SP4 FIELDS GARY RES
Passengers and/or other participants:
LTC MCKAY GERALD EUGENE, AR, PX, KIA
MAJ RUSS JAMES ALVIN, AR, PX, KIA
CSM PALMER JAMES HESTER, AR, PX, KIA
CPT GRAY ROY VIRGIL, AR, PX, KIA
CPT FISHER CARL NELSON JR, AR, OB, KIA
War Story:
On April 27, 1970, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D (tail number 66-00870) from the 281st Assault Helicopter Company, 1st Aviation Brigade, was flying a Command & Control mission for the 4th Infantry Division in the An Khe Pass with five passengers on board the aircraft when it was shot down near Pleiku, RVN. The only surviving crew member, SP4 Gary Fields, was the gunner for the mission. SP4 Fields remembers flying up the pass when the aircraft became targeted by .50 caliber fire from both sides. The pilot, CW2 Robert W. Gardner, took the brunt of the fire and slumped over the controls as the aircraft nosed over and out of control. When SP4 Fields realized that the aircraft was going to crash, he jumped from the ship and fell approximately 200 feet, landing in a rice paddy. SP4 Fields suffered multiple injuries as a result of the fall, and is still disabled later in life. He was the only survivor because he jumped from the helicopter as it crashed in front of the lead ship in a combat aviation assault. The other crewmen included co-pilot WO1 Stanley J. Miller Jr. and crew chief SP5 George W. Tom. The passengers were LTC Gerald E. McKay, MAJ James A. Russ, SMAJ James H. Palmer, CAPT Roy V. Gray, and CAPT Carl N. Fisher Jr. [Taken from 281stash.org]
This record was last updated on 08/19/2015
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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