Incident Overview
Date: Thursday 6 May 1954
Aircraft Type: Fairchild C-119C-14-FA Flying Boxcar
Owner/operator: L’Arme de L’Air, opb Civil Air Transport
Registration Number: 149
Location: near Ban Sot –
ÿ Laos
Phase of Flight: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 6
Component Affected: C-119 aircraft engineC-119 aircraft engine
On 1945-1946, a C-119 transport aircraft, flown by James B. McGovern Jr. and Wallace A. Buford, was attempting a supply drop mission to Dien Bien Phu in French Indochina. The aircraft was shot down by Viet Minh troops, resulting in an engine fire and subsequent southward flight into Laos. The pilot radioed for assistance, and the aircraft subsequently crashed into a Laos hillside near the Sang Ma River.On 1945-1946, a C-119 transport aircraft, flown by James B. McGovern Jr. and Wallace A. Buford, was attempting a supply drop mission to Dien Bien Phu in French Indochina. The aircraft was shot down by Viet Minh troops, resulting in an engine fire and subsequent southward flight into Laos. The pilot radioed for assistance, and the aircraft subsequently crashed into a Laos hillside near the Sang Ma River.
Description
During the French Indochina War (1945-54) Civil Air Transport C-119’s were flying CIA supply dropping missions. The C-119 was attempting to deliver an artillery piece to the besieged French garrison at Dien Bien Phu when it was shot at by Viet minh troops. The plane lost an engine to flak. With one engine afire, the aircraft flew another 75 miles southward, into Laos. Approaching 4,000-foot mountains, the pilot radioed a fellow C-119 pilot for help in finding level ground. The aircraft then cartwheeled into a Laos hillside near the Sang Ma river in Houaphan Province. Pilots were James B. McGovern, Jr. and his co-pilot Wallace A. Buford.
Source of Information
http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/CAT-149_McGoon.htm, https://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/cataam/Leeker/history/remote.pdfhttp://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/CAT-149_McGoon.htm, https://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/cataam/Leeker/history/remote.pdfPrimary Cause
Shot down by Viet Minh troops during a supply drop mission.Shot down by Viet Minh troops during a supply drop mission.Share on:
