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| Date: | Saturday 21 November 1970 |
| Time: | 02:19 LT |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | 37th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 65-12785 |
| MSN: | 61560 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 17 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Son Tay, North Vietnam -
 Vietnam
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Udorn RTAFB (VTUD), Thailand |
| Son Tay, North Vietnam |
The HH-3E with call sign BANANA 01 was deliberately crash landed in the courtyard of a POW camp at Son Tay in North Vietnam, carrying 14 Special Forces soldiers of assault team "Blueboy" as part of operation "Kingpin". This was an attempt to rescue prisoners of war, but this failed as they had been moved to another prison camp months before this nighttime raid took place. The helicopter was blown up before the three crewmen (pilot Maj. Herbert D. Kalen, co-pilot LtCol Herbert R. Zehnder and flight engineer TSgt LeRoy M. Wright) and the assault team were picked up by three HH-53C of 40th ARRS as planned within 30 minutes and flown back to base. The pilot and the flight engineer were awarded the Air Force Cross for their actions during this mission.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1965.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/16751/
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2662
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 07:58 | TB | Added |
| 09-Jan-2010 11:23 | TB | Updated [Source, ] |
| 21-Dec-2012 10:37 | TB | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Dec-2012 10:38 | TB | Updated [Source, ] |
| 30-Jan-2025 10:49 | Tetrapack | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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