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| Date: | Thursday 20 October 1966 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | Det 5, 38th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 65-12778 |
| MSN: | 61-553 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 10 miles W of Ban Kang, Laos -
 Laos
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Udorn RTAFB (VTUD), Thailand |
| Ban Kang, Laos |
The HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 02 was on a SAR mission to rescue the crew (pilot Maj. Lacy W. Breckenridge & WSO 1Lt Joseph E. Merrick) of F-4C (63-7518, call sign AVENGER 03) that bailed out after their aircraft had been hit by anti-aircraft fire over Ban Kang, Laos. While hoisting the WSO aboard the helicopter was hit repeatedly by ground fire and was forced to carry out an emergency landing in a field about six miles away as the transmission oil pressure dropped to almost zero.
A second HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 36 from the same unit acted as backup on this mission and after dumping fuel landed next to the disabled helicopter to pick up the four crewmen (pilot Maj. Adrian D. Youngblood, co-pilot 1Lt Edward G. Burford, flight mechanic A2C Gary R. Meyer and pararescueman A2C Thomas C. Davis) and the WSO rescued earlier, who had been wounded twice. After a maximum performance take-off was made, their escort of two A-1E Skyraiders destroyed JOLLY GREEN 02 to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. However, one of these A-1E (52-132410, call sign SANDY 08) was later in the mission shot down by small arms fire and its pilot killed.
The pilot of AVENGER 03 was spotted by an O-1 FAC aircraft hanging in his parachute in the branches of a tree. JOLLY GREEN 36 picked him up under intense small arms fire and then even proceeded to escort an A-1E Skyraider (call sign SANDY 05) with engine troubles back to base. His actions on this mission earned the pilot Capt. Leland T. Kennedy of JOLLY GREEN 36 his second Air Force Cross, the first had been awarded for another SAR mission only 15 days earlier.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1965.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/16746/
https://usafrotorheads.com/helo-timeline/
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=856
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=797
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
scramble.nl
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 07:24 | TB | Added |
| 09-Jan-2010 10:44 | TB | Updated [Location, Narrative, ] |
| 30-Jan-2010 11:39 | TB | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Country, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 20-Dec-2012 10:19 | TB | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 28-Jan-2025 06:30 | Tetrapack | Updated [Date, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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