Crash of a Lockheed C-130E Hercules off Phú Hiệp: 8 killed

Date & Time: Jun 17, 1966
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
63-7785
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Cam Ranh Bay – Kadena
MSN:
3852
YOM:
1963
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft was on its way from Cam Ranh Bay to Kadena AFB, Okinawa, carrying a crew of eight. While cruising along the Vietnam shore, about 72 km northeast of Nha Trang, the airplane suffered an in-flight explosion and crashed into the sea off Phú Hiệp. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew:
Lt Cdr Ralph Burton Cobbs,
Lt Donald Edwin Siegwarth,
Lt Clement Olin Stevenson,
Lt Edward Leon Romig,
AN M. J. Savoy,
YN2 Jack Ishum Dempsey,
ADJ2 Curtis David Collette,
ADR2 Stanley Jon Freng.
Probable cause:
It was suspected that the airplane had been sabotaged by Vietnamese communist sympathizers who worked at the base.