|
205th Aviation Company - "Geronimos" Republic of Vietnam, 1967 - 1969 |
| 66-19029 |
|
205th Aviation Company - "Geronimos" Republic of Vietnam, 1967 - 1969 |
| 66-19029, Boeing build number B-287, was a CH-47A helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 16 December 1966. The administrative strike date was 6 May 1969. 66-19029 accumulated 1,510.0 aircraft hours. At some point, 66-19029 was assigned to the 205th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) - "Geronimos", located at Phu Loi, in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). When United States involvement in the Vietnam conflict was drawing to a close, the 205th ASHC was relocated to Europe and became part of the 4th Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), United States Army Europe (USAREUR), and was located at Finthen Army Airfield, Finthen, near Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) (West Germany). In November 1988, the 205th ASHC was redesignated B Company - "Geronimos", 6th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, and made a subordinate unit of the 12th Aviation Brigade, 5th Corps, USAREUR, when the 4th TRANSCOM was deactivated. B Company was deactivated in September 1992. When the 12th Aviation Brigade stood down shortly thereafter, it was relocated to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and redesignated 159th Combat Aviation Group (CAG). The 159th CAG was relocated to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in 1997. On 6 May 1969, 66-19029 was lost due to an accident. While conducting a refugee transport mission, 66-19029 crashed on take off. The aircraft was fully loaded with South Vietnamese passengers when it suffered from engine failure. 2 aircrew members and 37 passengers suffered fatal injuries. 8 American Soldiers and 36 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Soldiers suffered severe burns and other injuries. The Flight Engineer, SP5 Wayne Allums, was killed after making several attempts to extract the crew and passengers from the burning wreakage. CPT Irenardo Felix Padron, one of the pilots of the aircraft, died in the crash. The aircraft was consumed in the post crash fire. In terms of lives lost, the crash of 66-19029 was the worst non-hostile fire combat environment incident in the history of the Chinook helicopter at 39 dead. The worst direct fire combat loss of life was when 66-19010 received fire from an SA-7 missile, killing approximately 50 Soldiers. The loss of 74-22292 was the worst non-combat (peacetime) loss of life event in which 46 personnel lost their lives. The last known location of 66-19029 was in the Republic of Vietnam. Aircraft status: Crashed. |
|
| SP5 Wayne Allums |
|
| CPT Irenardo Felix Padron. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
|
| A Miami Herald Newspaper article concerning CPT Irenardo Felix Padron. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
| Accident Summary |
|
| 66-19029 Accident Narrative Summary, page 1. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
|
| 66-19029 Accident Narrative Summary, page 2. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
|
| 66-19025 crash site photograph. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
| List of Injuries and Fatalities |
|
| 66-19025 list of injuries and fatalities, page 1. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
|
| 66-19025 list of injuries and fatalities, page 2. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image. |
| This aircraft was piloted by: |
| CPT Irenardo Felix Padron, UNK, 1969 (KIA) |
| Your Name Here. |
| This aircraft was crewed by: |
| SP5 Wayne Allen Allums, Flight Engineer, 1969 (KIA) |
| Your Name Here. |
| Related Information |
| 205th ASHC |
   |
|
| Comments or Questions ? |  |
Email the Webmaster. |
|
|
