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| Date: | Monday 15 January 1968 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | Det 1, 37th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 64-14233 |
| MSN: | 61-536 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 40 miles E of Xam Neua, Laos -
 Vietnam
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Lima Site 36 (LS-36), Na Khang, Laos |
| North Vietnam |
The HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 20 was on a SAR mission for the crew of an EB-66C (55-0388, call sign PREVIEW 01) that had been shot down by a MiG-21 over North Vietnam the day before. When the helicopter went below solid overcast it was hit by 37mm anti-aircraft fire, lost power and crash landed in a mountainous area just inside North Vietnam. The pilot Capt. Gregory A. Etzel, co-pilot Capt. David E. Holt and pararescue technician Sgt Angus W. Sowell were seriously injured, the flight engineer SSgt Elwood R. Beam fractured his shoulders and the passenger, photographer A2C James A. Hedderly, was temporarily knocked unconscious and had an injured knee.
Two other HH-3E scrambled from Lima Site 36 (LS-36) to recover the crew. However, low cloud frustrated this attempt and one of the helicopters was damaged by small arms fire as it was leaving the area. It was not until the afternoon of 17 January that a HH-53B (66-14434, call sign JOLLY GREEN 71) from Det 2, 37th ARRS managed to rescue the crew, despite also being hit by ground fire that put one of its engines out of action.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1964.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/8169/
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
https://usafrotorheads.com/helo-timeline/
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1554
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 05:07 | TB | Added |
| 21-Dec-2012 09:33 | TB | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Aug-2013 14:39 | Uli Elch | Updated [Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Jan-2025 08:19 | Tetrapack | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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