Helicopter OH-58A 68-16749


Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-58A tail number 68-16749
Date: 12/01/1970
Incident number: 701201161ACD Accident case number: 701201161 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 7/15 ART
The station for this helicopter was Phu Cat in
UTM grid coordinates: BR220524 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBR220524)
Number killed in accident = 4 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 4
costing 295102
Source(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Army Aviation Safety Center database.
Summary: Crashed at the mouth of the Ming Yang Pass 4 KM East of Phu Yen Village on QL-19.

Crew Members:
P WO1 SELLETT STEPHEN CHARLES KIA

Passengers and/or other participants:
LOCAL COMMANDER, LCO, G
LTC PENN RAYMOND BISHOP JR, AR, PX, KIA
SGM COYLE LAVERNE DARTON, AR, PX, KIA
CW2 CRAYNE KENNETH EUGENE, AR, PX, KIA


Accident Summary:

 AT APPROXIMATELY 1450 HOURS, 1 DECEMBER 1970, A OH-58A HELICOPTER, SERIAL NUMBER 68-16749, OF THE 7TH BATTALION, 15TH ARTILLERY, DEPARTED LANDING ZONE BLACKHAWK, LOCATED JUST NORTH OF QL 19, ABOUT FIFTEEN NAUTICAL MILES EAST OF PLEIKU. THE THREE PASSENGERS, LTC PENN, 186-20-8204; CW2 CRANYE, 506-34-7502; AND SMJ COYLE, 435-38-3938, WERE RETURNING TO PHU CAT FROM A ROUTINE VISIT TO THEIR FIRING BATTERIES AND HIGHER HEADQUARTERS. THE AIRCRAFT WAS FOLLOWING THE NORMAL ROUTE OF FLIGHT IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIT SOP, KEEPING GENERALLY WITHIN AUTOROTATIONAL GLIDING DISTANCE OF QL19. THE WEATHER IN THE MANG GIANG WAS MARGINAL AND HAD BEEN ALL DAY. WITNESSES REPORTED A BROKEN CEILING APPROXIMATELY FIVE HUNDRED FEET ABOVE THE ROAD IN THE PASS WITH INTERMITTEN RAIN AND REDUCED VISIBILITY. THE MANG GIANG IS CHARACTEREZED BY ITS RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER, POOR FORCED LANDING AREAS, AND FREQUENT HIGH WINDS AND TURBULENCE. SHORTLY AFTER 1500 HOURS ON 1 DECEMBER 1970, AIRCRAFT 68-16749 INITIATED A LEFT DESCENDING TURN AT THE WESTERN ENTRANCE OF THE MANG GIANG PASS. THE AIRCRAFT NEARLY COMPLETED A THREE HUNDRED SIXTY DEGREE DESCENDING LEFT TURN PRIOR TO IMPACTING A HIGH SPEED NEAR THE BASE OF A SMALL HILL APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED FIFTY METERS NORTH OF QL 19. THE CRAFT'S FINAL DIVE WAS MADE AT ROUGHLY A FORTY-FIVE DEGREE NOSE DOWN ANGLE, RELATIVELY LEVEL, WITH SMALL SIDE TO SIDE MOVEMENT DETECTABLE IN THE TAILBOOM. THE AIRCRAFT VIRTUALLY DISINTEGRATED ON IMPACT SIMULTANEOUSLY BURSTING INTO FLAME, KILLING PILOT AND PASSENGERS. THE WRECKAGE WAS SPREAD DOWNSLOPE FROM THE IMPACT POINT ABOUT SIXTY FEET TO A SMALL CREEK WHERE THE ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, TAILBOOM, AND ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS WERE FOUND. ALTHOUGH SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE NEAR THE CRASH SITE, NO ATTEMPT AT RESCUE WAS MADE AFTER REACHING THE WRECKAGE DUE TO THE FACT ALL OCCUPANTS WERE OBVIOUSLY DEAD, AND FIRE AND EXPLODING AMMUNITION PREVENTED REMOVAL OF THE BODIES. IT WAS APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS BEFORE REMOVAL OF THE REMAINS WAS POSSIBLE. THE BODIES WERE TAKEN TO THE 71ST EVACUATION HOSPITAL IN PLEIKU.\\

This record was last updated on 10/23/2010


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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


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