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67-18506, Boeing build number B-476, was a CH-47C helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 12 April 1968. The administrative strike date was 15 February 1971. 67-18506 accumulated at least 1,900.0 aircraft hours. At some point, 67-18506 was assigned to C Company - "Platex", 159th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion (ASHB), in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), where it remained until it was lost due to enemy action on 15 February 1971. 67-18506 was conducting missions in support of Lam Son 719. Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern provinces of South Vietnam. One of the missions assigned to 67-18506 was the task of ferrying a load of gasoline in fuel blivets (bladders) into Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of 2Lt. James H. Taylor, Aircraft Commander (AC); CWO Marvin M. Leonard, Pilot; SP4 John L. Powers, Flight Engineer; SP4 Donald E. Crone, Crew Chief; SP4 Willis C. Crear, Door Gunner. WO Barry F. Fivelson was a passenger onboard the aircraft. During the mission, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire, possibly from a 37 mm anti-aircraft weapon, and began to lose altitude. During the descent, the sling load of gasoline apparently exploded, causing the helicopter to explode, break into pieces, and crash. Observers later said that the helicopter seemed disoriented and that it had overflown the nearest friendly location by several miles and had descended in enemy-held territory about 10 miles southeast of Sepone. According to the U.S. Army, air searches conducted within minutes of the crash revealed no sign of survivors. However, according to information given to family members, the aerial search failed to find evidence of a crash. A ground search was not possible because of hostile threat in the area. (Note also that Defense Department data remarks indicates that a crash site was found and that no survivors were observed from the air.) The men aboard the CH-47 were all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. In 2002, a search team from the United States MIA/POW Full Accounting Office found the rear of the aircraft in 2002 with the four missing crewmen still onboard: WO1 Barry Fivelson, SP4 John Powers, SP4 Don Crone, and SP4 Willis Crear. In March 2004, the Accounting Office had a team in Laos continuing the search. The team hopes to find the pilots, 2Lt James Taylor and CW2 Marvin Leonard. Utilizing a cockpit from a retired CH-47C as a training device, the team hopes to understand what happened during the crash sequence, thereby aiding in the search for the remaining portions of the wreckage. The crash site is centered around 163836N 1062558E (XD528405). The last known location of 67-18506 was in the Republic of Vietnam. Aircraft status: Shot down in combat. |
