Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A tail number 66-07923
The Army purchased this helicopter 0369
Total flight hours at this point: 00000602
Date: 01/11/1971
Incident number: 71011144.KIA
Unit: A/7/17 CAV
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
This was a Recon mission for Armed Recon
While Enroute this helicopter was at Level Flight at 0130 feet and 020 knots.
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: BR232915 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PBR232915)
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. (12.7MM)
causing an Explosion.
Systems damaged were: PERSONNEL
Casualties = 02 DOI . .
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability were terminated.
Destroyed by friendly forces
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, LNNF, JSIDR, CASRP, MISC, FM385 (Operations Report.
Miscellaneous. Lindenmuth New Format Data Base. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. Casualty
Report. )
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
P WO1 JOHNSON WILLIAM FRANK KIA
OB CPL BLACKBURN RICHARD VINCENT KIA
War Story:
Bill Johnson was a scout pilot killed while flying for A/7/17th Cav. Rick Blackburn
was his observer. Rick had just been flying scouts for a month when he
was killed. I was back at Phan Rang AFB where we had just been moved, and
was told that they were dropping a homemade bomb (a mini-gun ammo can filled with dynamite and hydraulic fluid, banded tight w/ willie-pete grenade
strapped to it)when it exploded on the a/c, Speculation was that one of the
Ruff-Puff guards at City Field in Ban Me Thout, where we were TDY, changed
the detonator for one from a smoke grenade. When Rick got ready to drop it
on a bunker and pulled the pin, it blew immediately killing them both.
I believe that one of our VHPA members, Joe Dobek, was also flying that day.
He may be able to correct any errors I've made here or give a more authoritative
account of the events of that day.
It may seem to be a small thing to some people, but I thought they should
be identified by the correct unit. They were both good guys and I was glad
to have known them. from Bob Williams, Rook 35, A/7/17th Cav 10/70-10/71, November 1997.
This record was last updated on 05/25/1998
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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