Date & Time:
May 12, 1968 at 0720 LT
Type of aircraft:
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Operator:
Registration:
60-0297
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Khâm Đức - Saigon
MSN:
3600
YOM:
1961
Country:
Vietnam
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
150
Pax fatalities:
150
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
155
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Khâm Đức Airfield, while in initial climb, the aircraft was shot down by North-Vietnamese soldiers who were conducting an assault of the airbase. The aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion some 4 km east of the airfield. All 155 occupants, South-Vietnamese soldiers with their wife and children, were killed. Up to date, this was the worst crash by the USAF and the worst in Vietnam.
Crew:
Maj Bernard Ludwig Bucher,
1st Lt Stephan Craig Moreland,
S/Sgt Frank Monroe Hepler,
A1C George Wendell Long,
Maj John Lee McElroy,
Cpt Warren Robert Orr (was among the passenger).
Crew:
Maj Bernard Ludwig Bucher,
1st Lt Stephan Craig Moreland,
S/Sgt Frank Monroe Hepler,
A1C George Wendell Long,
Maj John Lee McElroy,
Cpt Warren Robert Orr (was among the passenger).
Probable cause:
Shot down by enemy fire.
