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| Date: | Wednesday 15 April 1970 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | 37th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 66-13280 |
| MSN: | 61-578 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Dak Nay Puey, Kon Tum, South Vietnam -
 Vietnam
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
The HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 27 was on a SAR mission for the crew of a US Army UH-1 helicopter, which was shot down by ground fire near a Special Forces camp at Dak Seang, South Vietnam. On the third attempt to reach the survivors the helicopter was hit by small arms fire, caught fire and crashed. The pilot Capt. Travis Henry Scott, Jr. was killed, while the injured co-pilot Maj. Travis Wofford freed himself and managed to pull the flight engineer TSgt Gerald Lester Hartzel and pararescueman SSgt Luther Eugene Davis from the burning wreckage. They were rescued by another HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 21 from the same unit acting as backup on the mission. However, the flight engineer died of burns in hospital on 20 April and SSgt Davis also died of his injuries as he was being flown to the USA on 25 May. The pilot was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross and the co-pilot received the Air Force Cross and the Cheney Award for their actions during this mission.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1966.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/23661/
https://usafrotorheads.com/helo-timeline/
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2536
https://jollygg.blogspot.com/2021/03/fallen-heros-jolly-green-27-37th-arrs.html
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1256
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1515
https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/24-october-1969-the-rescue-of-misty-11/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 08:10 | TB | Added |
| 21-Dec-2012 10:21 | TB | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 25-Oct-2020 09:09 | gerard57 | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Feb-2025 11:04 | Tetrapack | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative, ] |
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