66-19001

 

 

             66-19001, Boeing build number B-259, was a CH-47A helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 31 October 1966. The administrative strike date was 16 July 1969. 66-19001 accumulated 1,300.0 aircraft hours.

   At some point, 66-19001 was assigned to the 196th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) - "Flippers", 1st Aviation Brigade, in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), and remained there until it was lost due to an accident.

   On 16 July 1969, at 1915 hours, 66-19001 was on a test flight for completion of the 13th Preventive Maintenance Periodic (PMP), a 100 flight hour inspection.

   On approach to Lane Army Heliport near Qui Nhon, RVN, the crew contacted Lane Tower and was cleared to land.

   Suddenly, the aircraft pitched nose up, continued pitching up until inverted, and, upon reaching a vertical nose-down position, plunged to the ground.

   The impact was severe and was followed by a destructive fire.

   The aircraft maintained a vertical position after impact until fire caused the aft portion of the fuselage to fall forward and slightly to the left of the nose section.

   The engines remained attached to the fuselage at impact but dropped off beside the forward section as fire consumed the aircraft.

   The entire crew and all passengers perished in the crash. Listed as the crew were: CW2 Kenneth Willis, 2LT Jack Price, SP5 Elwin Singleton, SP5 Arthur Allison and SP4 Darrell Hurt.

   Also killed was Technical Inspector (TI) SP4 Ronald Hoff and mechanic SP4 John Kidd.

   The last known location of 66-19001 was in the Republic of Vietnam.

   Aircraft status: Crashed.

 

 

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