The aircraft was on a resupply mission. It took off from LZ English with a load of passengers and cargo going to LZ Hawaii, a fire support base west of LZ English. After landing at Hawaii, the aircraft was loaded again and took off to go to A Company 2/503rd with a load of passengers and rations. The pilot was flying the aircraft when it arrived over the LZ, which was on the side of a ridge line generally running north and south. The LZ was cut out of a large area of small trees and brush that was surrounded by much taller trees. The north side of the LZ was next to the tall trees and the approach was begun by the pilot to the brushy area to the south of the LZ. The pilot had circled the area and the troops on the ground had thrown a smoke grenade which had indicated a no wind condition, although the prevailing wind was 10-12 knots from the south. The pilot therefore made the approach over the relatively open area south of the LZ. On final approach, the aircraft commander took control of the aircraft and came to a hover over the sloping brush area about 50 meters south of the LZ. The torque at this time was 38 pounds and RPM remained constant at 6600. The aircraft was then hovered into the prepared LZ with no problems and unloaded. The aircraft was loaded with 5 US troops without packs, 1 Vietnamese, 2 cargo nets, a chain saw, a can of oil and gas, and 2 cases of dynamite with fuses. The aircraft commander brought the aircraft to a hover and the RPM continued to drop. At 5200 RPM the aircraft had 35 pounds of torque and 6600 RPM. The aircraft had 600 lbs of fuel on board at this time. The aircraft commander started backing the helicopter off the pad to turn around and take off to the south. Approximately 20 feet from the pad, the RPM bled off to 6200 with 98% power and 39 pounds of torque. The aircraft began to settle and could not make it back to the LZ. The aircraft commander then stabilized the controls and beeped the RPM full up but the aircraft commander turned the aircraft to the right with the cyclic and kicked full right pedal in an attempt to gain RPM. The aircraft then traveled down the 20-25 degree slope to a point about 200 meters south east of the LZ where the aircraft commander flared, zeroed the airspeed and used the remaining RPM to cushion the aircraft as it crashed into the small trees and brush on the side of the slope
This record was last updated on 04/17/97
Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 66-16320
Date:
10/14/69
Accident case number: 691014101
Unit: 192 AHC
The station
for this helicopter was Da Nang in
Number killed in accident = 0 . . Injured
= 0 . . Passengers = 0
costing 6036
Source(s) from which the incident was
created or updated: Army Aviation Safety Center database.
Crew
Members:
AC W1 ALLSUP R
Accident Summary:
DUR TROOP INSERTION AC APPLIED EX PITCH & LOSS OF RPM ACFT STARTED SPINNING RT AC REDUCED PWR & REGAINED CON OF ACFT 10 FT AGL UPON T/D M/R/B STRUCK TREES TO RT FRONT OF ACFT ICDT \
The following is Goldbook information on US Army helicopter UH-1D tail number
66-16320
It is provided here as an ESTIMATE of the history of this helicopter
and is not intended to be the final authority.
This helicopter was purchased
by the US Army in 0467.
Please provide any additional information on this
helicopter to the VHPA.
DATE FLT HRS UIC UNIT AREA POST COUNTRY 6704 2 2 WQ1CAA GEN SUPPLY DIV 4THARMY RED RIVER AD AVCOM 6705 0 2 9221 ARMY AVN DIV 6TH ARMY DUGWAY PG TEVALCOM 6706 0 2 9221 USARV FLT DET VIETNAM RVN 6707 19 21 1776 USARV FLT DET VIETNAM RVN 6708 32 53 1776 BELL HCPTR BAILMENT FT WORTH AVCOM 6709 6 59 1776 BELL HCPTR BAILMENT FT WORTH AVCOM 6710 0 59 1776 BELL HCPTR BAILMENT FT WORTH AVCOM 6711 0 59 3300 355 AVN CO 4TH ARMY FORT SILL 4TH ARMY 6712 51 110 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6801 101 211 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6802 27 238 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6803 138 376 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6804 93 469 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6805 92 561 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6806 76 637 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN 6807 95 732 WAYPAA 61 ASLT HEL CO VIETNAM RVN
Please send additions or corrections to:
VHPA Head Quarters or Gary Roush or Mike Law
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