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| Date: | Sunday 20 October 1968 |
| Time: | 07:17 H |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | 37th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 66-13282 |
| MSN: | 61-580 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 20 miles NNE of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -
 Vietnam
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Da Nang AB (VVDN), South Vietnam |
| Con Co Island, North Vietnam |
The HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 29 was on a SAR mission for the crew of a F-4D (66-7740, call sign DOVER 01), which had been hit by anti-aircraft fire south of Dong Hoi and ejected over water about 15 miles northeast of the DMZ the day before. The helicopter made an open sea landing to pick up the survivors about 1 mile off Con Co Island, North Vietnam. However, it lost a rotor blade and caught fire after being hit by shore-based mortars and 37mm anti-aircraft fire and was last seen floating belly up before sinking. About one hour after abandoning their helicopter on life rafts two crewmen (pilot Capt. Gerald W. Moore and co-pilot Capt. Lawrence E. Davis) were picked up by a HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 31 of 37th ARRS, while the other two crewmen (flight engineer SSgt Robert T. Anderson and pararescueman Sgt Steven T. White) and the crew of DOVER 01 (pilot LtCol Donald R D'Amico and WSO 1Lt Samuel F. Wilburn) were rescued by another HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 33 from the same unit.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1966.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/23663/
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1995
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 08:52 | TB | Added |
| 21-Dec-2012 10:11 | TB | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Aug-2013 14:44 | Uli Elch | Updated [Nature, Source, ] |
| 03-Feb-2025 06:55 | Tetrapack | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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