Boeing CH-47B Chinook helicopter 67-18445.

67-18445

   67-18445, Boeing build number B-415, was a CH-47B helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 5 October 1967. The administrative strike date was 26 August 1970. 67-18445 accumulated at least 1,126.0 aircraft hours as of 26 August 1970.

   At some point, 67-18445 was assigned the the 178th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) - "Boxcars", located at Chu Lai in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).

   On 26 August 1970, 67-18445 was involved in an accident that claimed the lives of all on board except the copilot. Of the 30 Soldiers aboard the aircraft, Eric Reid was the sole survivor. One additional Soldier on the ground was killed as the aircraft descended upon him.

   The last known location of 67-18445 was in the Republic of Vietnam.

   Aircraft status: Crashed.

Additional Information on 67-18445

The Army purchased this helicopter 1067

Total flight hours at this point: 00001088

Date: 08/26/1970

Incident number: 70082622 KIA

Unit: 178 ASHC

This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY for Air/land Assault , Hot Area.

While on Landing Zone this helicopter was Landing at 0100 feet and 010 knots.

Location: South Vietnam

UTM grid coordinates: AT851009

Count of hits was not possible because the helicopter burned or exploded.

Explosive Weapon; Non-Artillery launched or static weapons containing explosive charges. (RPG, 12.7MM) causing a Fire.

Systems damaged were: FUEL SYS, PERSONNEL.

Casualties = 29 DOI, 02 INJ.

The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft Destroyed.

Both mission and flight capability were terminated.

Burned

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, CH47 (Operations Report. Lindenmuth New Format Data Base. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. Casualty Report.)

Loss to Inventory.

Crew Members

AC CW2 YORK DANIEL WEBSTER KIA

CE SP4 TEFFT GEORGE EDWARD KIA

FE SP4 YORK JOEL CRAIG KIA

G PFC MCDOUGALL HIMA DUNCAN JR KIA

P REID ERIC P RES

Passengers and/or other participants

SP4 ANDERSON WILLIAM JR, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 BARNETT STUART LEE, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 BATESEL DENNIS GORDON, AR, PX, KIA

PFC BEDRA THEODORE FRANK, AR, PX, KIA

PFC BRIDGETT PAUL EDWARD, AR, PX, KIA

PFC CODY WESLEY OTERIA, AR, PX, KIA

SGT DUNCAN ONNIE DAVID, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 ESTRIDGE CURTISS, AR, PX, KIA

PFC FLORES FLORENTINO, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 GARNETT ISIAH CALVIN, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 GINN JAMES MICHAEL, AR, PX, KIA

PFC HICKMAN THOMAS STEVEN, AR, PX, KIA

1SG JOHNSON ALBERT LEE, AR, PX, KIA

SGT KRAEMER FRED CHRIS, AR, PX, KIA

PFC MANRING CURTIS JOHNSON, AR, PX, KIA

PFC MARTINEZ-ZAYAS RUBEN, AR, PX, KIA

SGT MCMASTER ROBERT PAUL, AR, PX, KIA

PFC MORGAN MICHAEL LYNN, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 OBRIEN DWIGHT PRESTON, AR, PX, KIA

PFC PIERSOL JOHN LAURENCE JR, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 REESE DAVID PHILLIP, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 ROSE DAVID EARL, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 SALTERS LEE EARNEST, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 SANDOVAL HECTOR MONTALVO, AR, PX, KIA

SP4 THORPE WILLIAM DAVID, AR, PX, KIA

PFC WEHRHEIM CHARLES GEORGE, AR, PX, KIA

PV1 WIDDOWS JOHN WILLIAM, AR, PX, KIA

War Stories

From: SGT Allen, HHC 2/1:

Hit by enemy fire on final. Pilot heard an explosion. Aircraft crashed into trees and burned. Internal load of 105 mm ammo began exploding. Of the crew of five and 20 PAX aboard, the pilot was sole survivor. My recollection may be a bit hazy after 36 years. I was filling sandbags with Hugh O'Connor. Watched the RPG actual hit the left jet pod on final approach to what we affectionately called LZ Judy. Couple of things need corrected. There was no 51 cal. machine gun fire. The bird was loaded with white phosphorous for 81 mm mortars, not 105mm. The flight was from Kham Duc. A platoon from 4/31 was pulled off the bird, replaced by a platoon from Delta of the 2/1, along with the Delta 1SG. Don't remember any detonations like 105mm's, just a huge white smoke cloud after skidding down the mountain. Three days later we had to police the body bags of those poor souls.

From: Ken Ruesch, LTC U.S.Army (RET):

I was a direct observer of the downing of the Chinook at LZ Judy on 8/26/70. I totally disagree with any statements made about an RPG. I heard a burst of what could have been AK fire and the ship started going down. The pilot was able to bring the nose up temporarily and then down it went nose first. The door gunner did return fire as soon as they took fire. I agree with the internal weapons being 81MM WP rounds.

From: Dan Hodge:

I was in Co. E attached to Co. D and we were told to start loading the CH47 with all the ammo and mortar boxes on the LZ at Kham Duc. While loading, the CO grabbed four of us and told us to load our gear and a radar unit onto a Huey and meet up with everyone at the next LZ which at that time we didn't have a clue where we were going. We had been blowing everything we weren't going to haul out up and there was a lot going on. We heard that intel had it that we were going to get hit again like in 68. Anyway, we beat the CH47's to LZ Judy and unloaded our gear and started hauling it up the hill. The LZ was in a saddle below the hill. I remember a CH47 land and off load a platoon and another CH47 was in a holding pattern, waiting for everyone to clear the LZ. I was resting, looking across at the CH47 which was hovering about straight across from me when I heard AK 47 fire and it appeared to be hitting the chopper right below the from rotors. I heard maybe tens rounds. There's no mistaking AK fire when you're on the ground. I would have been on the right side of the chopper to the front and I could see the right side pilot looking out and down for a place to land. I could see that the saddle had not cleared out and the only place the chopper could go down was in the draw below the saddle. If he would have landed on the LZ he would have killed a lot of ground troops. I lost sight of the chopper when he went into the trees and could see debris flying including tree branches. I heard that two guys were killed from pieces off the blades but this was never confirmed. I remember looking at the guys on the LZ and they were all looking down into the draw and were heading down that way. After I heard the chopper hit, I don't remember how much time went by before the explosions started. I know that it burned for a couple of days. We heard a couple of stories. One the transmission had come through and killed the pilot, another that a medic had made it out but had a hole in his head and died later, another that someone made it out and clear but had been burned. I know that someone was medivacted and it's good to hear the co pilot made it. I think it was him who I saw looking out the right side. I know from experience (35 years in law enforcement as an investigator) that everyone sees things different and hears things different even though they experience the same event. i don't remember ever hearing anyone say anything about a RPG, only AK fire. I've seen the reports about the RPG but didn't know where they came from. I know I'll never forget that day & the friends that I lost. The day we had to go down to the crash and start hauling the body bags back up the hill was not a good one either. With each bag we passed up the hill, you could see it in everyones eye's wondering which friend this one was. We heard that all the troops ended up in a pile in back and were burned. The condition of the body bags only confirmed this. This information came from the co pilot Eric "Ric" Reid.