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| Date: | Thursday 1 September 1966 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Sikorsky HH-3E Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | Det 5, 38th ARRS, 3rd ARRG, USAF |
| Registration: | 64-14227 |
| MSN: | 61-530 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Laos -
 Laos
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Udorn RTAFB (VTUD), Thailand |
| Laos |
The HH-3E with call sign JOLLY GREEN 51 was carrying lumber for a new TACAN site in Laos when it lost rotor speed on final approach, undershot the landing area and crashed on a mountain top, killing one of the two passengers aboard. The three crewmen (pilot Capt. Roy E. Keck, co-pilot 1Lt Edward G. Burfrord, flight engineer SSgt Robert S. Riley) and the other passenger suffered only minor bruises and were rescued by another HH-3E from the same unit later that day.
The accident investigation board listed the primary cause of this major accident as pilot error in that he underestimated flight planning factors on final approach allowing the main rotor RPM to decrease to a point that a recovery or safe landing could not be accomplished. Aircraft was declared not reparable and written off when it was dropped by a CH-47 Chinook during a salvage attempt on 6 September.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1964.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/8163/
https://usafrotorheads.com/helo-timeline/
https://www.ragay.nl/hh-43-sea/udorn-1966
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jan-2010 11:51 | TB | Added |
| 04-Sep-2011 17:05 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 20-Dec-2012 10:29 | TB | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 20-Dec-2012 10:47 | TB | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Jan-2025 08:18 | Tetrapack | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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