unit history information
for AIR AMERICA LAOS
From date 630905 to 630909
AIR AMERICA LAOS was a Air America unit
Primary service involved, Air America
Incident reference: 63090505.KIA This information is available on CD-ROM.
Laos
Location, Savannakhet
Description: Capt. Cheney was briefed by me the evening prior to the day of the accident. I gave him a list of three DZ's (XD6337, XD7114, WD5624) and told him to go only to those three. (The form 147 indicates the destination as Ban Houei Sane.) I also cautioned him to avoid VE9644 and VE9745 as indicated on the Form Laos 147. Generally all FAR DZ's are checked by me prior to scheduling and those which appear too hazardous are verified with the COR. In this instance I did not check them because of the notation on the Form 147 by the COR which indicated they already had been checked and were considered acceptable.
I was alerted by the flight watch section two minutes after B150 reported heavy ground fire. Mr. Stitt was in my office and we both proceeded to the radio room. By this time 150 had reported engine fire and engine feathered. I called the aircraft and asked for a position and altitude. The answer was slightly garbled but was copies by me as "40 minutes out of Savannakhet heading 300 degrees at 4000 feet." The rest of the transmission went something like "--- ETA Savannakhet - - - - standby one." We waited about 30-45 seconds and called again but received no answer. Nothing more was heard after that. We then put 05X, 06X, 865, and 73Z on a search, positioned H12 at Savannakhet from Udorn and called H15 down from up country for positioning at Vientiane.
The second day, after the aircraft was spotted, a ground party reached the scene by helicopter and determined that certain tools and equipment were required to get to the interior of the aircraft. The weather was bad and the hour late, so all aircraft participating in the search were returned to VO8, SO8 or V39 and plans were completed for a first light departure to wrap up the investigation. The U.S. embassy then refused to grant permission to continue, mainly because the helicopter at the scene had reported hearing gunfire when departing. Written by Thomas A. Krohn, OMATOG/VTE
The supporting statements written by R.J. Herald state that H15 from Udorn was flown by Hitchman and H12 from Vientiane by Connors. On the 8th, the two helicopters inserted about 8 Lao soldiers and two AA men (including Herald). They reached the aircraft and stayed with it for over an hour. The plan had gane straight into the ground with about six feet of the tail sticking straight up above the ground. He was able to gain entry into the fuselage but saw only broken and twisted wood and aluminum. The aircraft had been carring 110 sacks of rice and 300 kilos of water buffalo meat. The nearest outpost was Moung Phalane.
Comments: CPT Hitchman; Pilot H15; ;
CPT Connors; Pilot H12; ;
The source for this information was AA OPS-147
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023