Incident Overview
Description
On December 24,1965, at 07:28 hours, a Douglas AC-47D gunship, call sign “Spooky 21,” departed Da Nang Airport (DAD) on an armed reconnaissance/strike mission over Laos. The gunship was due to return to base at approximately 13:30 hours. Mayday calls were received at 10:50. A search and rescue mission failed to find the airplane or crew. The crew was declared Missing In Action. In 1995, a joint U.S.-Laotian search team was led to the crash site by a local farmer who had found aircraft wreckage in a nearby field. The site was recommended for follow-up visits, but no human remains were found in four subsequent visits between 1999 and 2001. Additional searches at the crash site in 2010 and 2011 led to the recovery of human remains, personal items, and military equipment.
Source of Information
http://www.ac47-gunships.com/ac47_miakia.htm, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/six-airmen-lost-over-laos-in-1965-buried-at-arlington/http://www.ac47-gunships.com/ac47_miakia.htm, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/six-airmen-lost-over-laos-in-1965-buried-at-arlington/Primary Cause
Unknown ? Likely a navigational error or malfunction leading to a loss of altitude and visibility.Unknown ? Likely a navigational error or malfunction leading to a loss of altitude and visibility.Share on:
