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| Date: | Monday 17 February 1969 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Sikorsky CH-3C Sea King (S-61R) |
| Owner/operator: | 20th SOS, 14th SOW, USAF |
| Registration: | 63-9682 |
| MSN: | 61-514 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 23 miles SE of Nakhon Phanom, Thailand -
 Laos
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Udorn RTAFB (VTUD), Thailand |
| Laos |
The CH-3C with call sign PONY EXPRESS 16 suffered a main transmission oil system failure during a mission and made an emergency landing in a rice paddy in Laos, about 23 miles southeast of Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. The three crew members (pilot Capt. G.R. Belanger, co-pilot Maj. Bruce L. Athon and a flight engineer) were rescued by another CH-3E with the call sign PONY EXPRESS 15, which then proceeded to pick up some troops from a nearby Special Guerilla Unit camp in order to secure the landing zone, but when they returned to the location found the helicopter burning and destroyed by the fire.
Sources:
https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1963.html
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/5511/
https://911gfx.nexus.net/aircraftlosses.html
https://www.rotorheadsrus.us/documents/1968___1973.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-2010 06:13 | TB | Added |
| 19-Jan-2010 10:15 | TB | Updated [Date, ] |
| 21-Dec-2012 10:14 | TB | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Jan-2025 06:43 | Tetrapack | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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