Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1C tail number 65-09489
The Army purchased this helicopter 0366
Total flight hours at this point: 00002044
Date: 03/19/1971 MIA-POW file reference number: 1730
Incident number: 71031910.KIA
Unit: 48 AHC
Laos
UTM grid coordinates: XD585428 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 48QXD585428)
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. Also: 1730 ()
Loss to Inventory
Crew Members:
CE SFC GARCIA RICARDO MARTINEZ BNR
P CW3 CRISTMAN FREDERICK LEWIS BNR
P CW2 SPARKS JON MICHAEL BNR
G SP4 LANGENOUR RES
REFNO Synopsis:
Laos John M. Sparks
Richard M. Garcia
Frederick L. Cristman
(1730)
On March 19, 1971, Chief Warrant Officer Cristman and his crew were
in an armed helicopter on a mission to provide fire support during
the pick up of South Vietnamese airborne troops at Fire Support
Base Alpha in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Their helicopter was hit
by heavy automatic weapons fire and was forced to make an emergency
landing. One of the crewmen, Specialist 4th Class Langenour, was
pushed out of the aircraft by Sp5 Garcia and he was able to reach
a group of nearby South Vietnamese troops. He was told by one of
the troops that the other crewmen had exited the aircraft and
headed away from the front of it into the path of advancing North
Vietnamese forces. Specialist Langenour later walked out of Laos
with the South Vietnamese soldiers. U.S. aircrews flying overhead
after the crash landing did not see the three missing airmen escape
from the aircraft.
In September 1973 a People's Army of Vietnam defector reported his
battalion engaged South Vietnamese Army forces in Laos conducting
Operation Lamson 719. They captured an injured helicopter pilot
who was taken to nearby field hospital B-7 where he later died.
Other crewmen from the downed helicopter were found dead and
buried. The defector identified a photograph of CW2 Christmas as
resembling the individual captured alive by his battalion.
In March 1987 a private American POW hunter reported a live
American in Laos. The background of the purported American
correlates to a crewman from this incident.
None of the three crewmen from this incident were reported alive in
the northern Vietnamese prison system. All were initially reported
missing in action and in October 1978 were declared dead/body not
recovered.
War Story:
The irony of this story is the gunner, Langenour. The aircraft was shot up and the pilots were both hit. They made an emergency landing on a firebase that was being overrun in Laos. Just prior to landing the gunner jumped out, got in the trenches with the South Vietnamese and that act saved his life.
The aircraft landed in the middle of a fight, the North Vietnamese were firing mortars onto the firebase, one hit the aircraft as it landed blowing it up, and killing the crew.
I have the audio tape of the frustration of the friends that were in the 48th that were trying to find out the fate of their friends..call sign Joker 92.
Langenour escaped and evaded for 13 days with the South Vietnamese back to South Vietnam and survived the war.
Mike Sloniker
This record was last updated on 09/26/1999
This information is available on CD-ROM.
Additional information is available on KIAs at http://www.coffeltdatabase.org
Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.
KIA statistics
Return to the KIA panel date index
Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association