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Helicopter OH-6A
68-17186
Information on U.S. Army helicopter
OH-6A tail number 68-17186
The Army purchased this helicopter
0569
Total flight hours at this point:
00000264
Date: 10/29/1969
Incident number: 69102929.KIA
Unit: D/3/5 CAV
This was a Combat incident. This
helicopter was LOSS TO INVENTORY
This was a Recon mission for Armed
Recon
While in Target Area this
helicopter was Attacking at 0050 feet and 060 knots.
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: VR963150 (To
see this location on a map, go to
https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid
Reference 48PVR963150)
Count of hits was not possible
because the helicopter burned or exploded.
causing an Explosion.
Systems damaged were: PERSONNEL
The effectiveness of the flak vests
protecting personnel was unknown or not reported.
Casualties = 01 DOI, 01 KIA . .
Number killed in accident = 0 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers =
0
The helicopter Crashed. Aircraft
Destroyed.
Both mission and flight capability
were terminated.
Burned
costing 0
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, DYNAL, MISC, HUGHS,
CASRP, Tony Spletstoser (Operations Report. Miscellaneous.
Lindenmuth New Format Data Base. Casualty Report. )
Summary: After making repeated
contact with the VC and reporting that the Observer was hit
bad, the aircraft exploded in mid-air.
Loss to Inventory and Helicopter
was not recovered
Crew Members:
P WO1 WHEELER CONRAD JACK KIA
O SP5 GREENO GERALD THOMAS JR KIA
War Story:
What follows is an edited
version of a Copyright 1997 article written by James R. "Tony
Tiger" Spletstoser that was posted on the D/3/5th Cav Website;
see Hotlink: A. This article is part of his
unpublished book,
"Hit's Through the Chin Bubble." He was a civilian employed by
Dynalectron Corp. who had a contract to collect Battle Damage
Data for Aberdeen Proving Ground.
He was trained as a fixed
wing pilot, an aircraft mechanic, and photographer for service
in Vietnam.