Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 69-15184
The Army purchased this helicopter 0370
Total flight hours at this point: 00000627
Date: 12/06/1970 MIA-POW file reference number: 1682
Incident number: 701206021ACD Accident case number: 701206021 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: B/158 AVN
The station for this helicopter was Camp Evans in Over Water
Number killed in accident = 2 . . Injured = 2 . . Passengers = 0
costing 334345
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: 1682 ()
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
AC W2 GC MCATEE
P W1 PH NEAL
CE SP4 EVANOFF ALVIN LEE KIA
G PFC TAYLOR WALTER JOSEPH JR BNR
REFNO Synopsis:
SYNOPSIS: On December 6, 1970, PFC Joseph Taylor was serving as a door gunner
on a UH1M helicopter when it crashed into the South China Sea near the Da Nang
Harbor. The aircraft failed to recover from a very steep dive being maneuvered.
(Note: The UH1M, was not a particularly common version of the Huey used in
Vietnam. The M model was essentially the same as a UH1C, with the addition of a
more powerful engine.)
PFC Taylor was last seen by the aircraft commander about one minute prior to
the crash of the aircraft. Upon impact with the water the helicopter exploded
and burned. Rescue teams recovered the pilot and aircraft commander and several
days later, the body of the crew chief. Navy divers also recovered a portion of
the aircraft, but no trace of Taylor was found.
Accident Summary:
THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN A FORMATION OF UH-1H'S ON A FLIGHT FROM DANANG, RVN TO QUANG TRI, RVN. THE PURPOSE OF THE MISSION IS CLASSIFIED. THE FLIGHT OF 4 DEPARTED THE REFUELING FACILITY AT MARBLE MOUNTAIN AT APPROXIMATELY 0935 HOURS AND MADE A STOP AT THE HELICOPTER PAD AT XXIV CORPS HEADQUARTERS TO PICKUP SOME EQUIPMENT. THE FLIGHT PROCEEDED FROM THE XXIV CORPS PAD AT APPROXIMATELY 0945 HOURS WITH AIRCRAFT 69-15184 FLYING IN NUMBER 3 POSITION, VERY LOOSE TRAIL FORMATION WITH 30-60 SECONDS SEPARATION BETWEEN AIRCRAFT. THE AIRCRAFT INVOLVED IN THE ACCIDENT TOOK OFF FROM XXIV CORPS WITH THE CARGO DOORS CLOSED. AS THE FLIGHT PROCEEDED ACROSS THE DANANG BAY TO THE NORTH, CW2 MCATEE NOTICED A DESTROYER IN THE BAY. HE VEERED TO THE RIGHT OF THE FLIGHT PATH AND DESCENDED TO AN ALTITUDE OF APPROXIMATELY 1 TO 5 FEET ABOVE THE WATER. WHILE IN THIS FLIGHT ENVELOPE, THE CREW CHIEF AND DOOR GUNNER OPENED THE CARGO DOORS OF THE AIRCRAFT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS FLOWN PARALLEL TO THE PORT SIDE OF THE DESTROYER. UPON REACHING THE STERN OF THE SHIP, CW2 MCATEE MADE A CYCLIC CLIMB TO APPROXIMATELY 200'. HE DECREASED AIRSPEED TO APPROXIMATELY 40 KNOTS AT THE TOP OF THE CLIMB AND EXECUTED A SHARP LEFT TURN. UPON COMPLETION OF THE TURN, CW2 MCATEE BEGAN A POWER DIVE, HIS FLIGHT PATH WAS PARALLEL TO THE STARBOARD SIDE OF THE DESTROYER. WHILE IN THE DESCENDING ATTITUDE, THE AIRSPEED INCREASED TO 95 TO 100 KNOTS. CW2 MCATEE AND WO1 NEAL FAILED TO RECOVER FROM THE DESCENT AND IMPACTED WITH THE WATER. A FIRE AND LOW ORDER EXPLOSION RESULTED. THE IMPACT WAS MADE WITH LEVEL SKIDS, INDICATING THAT RECOVERY FROM THE DIVE WAS ATTEMPTED. THE ATTEMPTED RECOVERY WAS UNSUCCESSFUL DUE TO EXCESSIVE AIRSPEED AND A FAILURE ON THE PART OF THE PILOTS TO REACT TO A HAZARDOUS AIRCRAFT ATTITUDE. CW2 MCATEE WAS OCCUPYING THE LEFT SEAT AND HE ESCAPED THROUGH THE LEFT CARGO COMPARTMENT. WO1 NEAL OCCUPIED THE RIGHT SEAT. THE ENTIRE RIGHT SIDE AND TOP OF THE PILOT'S COMPARTMENT HAD SEPARATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT AND HE EXITED THROUGH THE TOP OF THE HELICOPTER WAS SUMBERGED WHEN THE EXITS WERE ACCOMPLISHED. NEITHER THE AIRCRAFT COMMANDER OR PILOT SAW THE REMAINING MEMBERS OF THE CREW. APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE AFTER THE CRASH, THE AIRCRAFT COMMANDER AND PILOT WERE RESCUED FROM THE WATER BY A BOAT FROM THE DESTROYER AND TAKEN ABOARD THE HOSPITAL SHIP USS SANCTUARY, WHICH WAS ANCHORED SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS AWAY. SMALL FRAGMENTS OF THE VARIOUS AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLIES REMAINED ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER FOR A MATTER OF SECONDS. WITHIN ONE TO TWO MINUTES AFTER THE ACCIDENT, ALL DEBRIS AND WRECKAGE HAD SUNK BELOW THE SURFACE. NO SIGHTING WAS EVER MADE OF THE ENLISTED CREW MEMBERS DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON OF 6 DECEMBER 1970. VARIOUS PORTIONS OF THE WRECKAGE WERE RECOVERED DURING THE WEEK BUT EFFORTS, BY NAVY DIVERS, TO RECOVER THE REMAINS OF THE CREW CHIEF AND DOOR GUNNER WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. ON 10 DEC 70, THE BODY OF THE CREW CHIEF, SP4 EVANOFF WAS RECOVERED FROM THE SHORELINE WHERE IT HAD BEEN CARRIED BY THE CURRENT. TO DATE, THE BODY OF THE DOOR GUNNER HAS NOT BEEN RECOVERED.\\
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Date posted on this site:
10/25/2024
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War Story:
The McCormick is the destroyer in the Accident Summary. I was on the bridge assisting the navigator, standing just inside the port-side wing. My memory mind's-eye recalls seeing a helicopter approaching the ship, only 20 feet off the water. It proceeded down the port side, and I remember seeing a couple of GIs waving at us, smiling/laughing? I'm not sure, but they seemed to be having a good time. I took a couple steps outside of the bridge and onto the wing so I could continue watching the chopper. I was quite surprised to see it pull up and bank left behind the fantail, then disappear. I could still hear the beats of the rotors as I stepped back into the bridge, getting louder as it began to pass up the starboard side. In another few seconds I heard a horrible sound and saw a huge black cloud blot out the view outside the starboard wing hatchway. After that, I was too busy with the business of moment, the ship responding to the crash with our Captain's gig and whale boat to recover and transport the two survivors to the USS Sanctuary. The rest of the story is what it is.
I will have to say I'm uncomfortable with the explanation given by the pilot. He "noticed" a destroyer, so he "veered" and descended even closer to the water. The two crewmen opened the cargo doors "while in the flight envelope", not sure what that means. Then the pilot made a cyclic climb (looked that one up), and made a sharp left turn, which makes sense based on what I saw. But I have to ask: why? Why did the pilot decide to reverse course if the mission was outside of the harbor and up the coast to Quang Tri?
The men stationed on the starboard side of my ship at the time probably saw the whole thing, and probably saw more than they wanted to. The crewmen who perished appeared to have no real protection. I hope their families got to know the truth about the fate of their boys. Those families didn't deserve to loose them to the miscalculations of of an over-confident flight crew, showing off for my ship's crew. Did they ever get into the cockpit again?
If my interpretation of the facts is flawed or offensive, I'm sorry. I know what I saw that day, or I like to think I do. To you and all who made it back to the world, welcome home. To those who didn't, you will not be forgotten.
Robin S., USN GMTSN, 1969-1973