Helicopter or incident 66-16154

Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 66-16154
Date: 11/30/67
This was a Combat incident. This helicopter was UNK
This was a Recon mission for Unarmed Recon
While Enroute this helicopter was Unknown at 0050 feet and 090 knots.
South Vietnam
Helicopter took 1 hits from:
Small Arms/Automatic Weapons; Gun launched non-explosive ballistic projectiles less than 20 mm in size. (7.62MM)
The helicopter was hit in the Cockpit
Systems damaged were: ARMAMENT, PERSONNEL
Casualties = YES . .
The helicopter made a Forced Landing. unknown.
Unknown as to mission impact.
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center Helicopter database. Also: UH1P2, 74183 ()

Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 66-16154
Date: 12/20/67
Incident number: 671220051ACD Accident case number: 671220051 Total loss or fatality Accident
Unit: 189 AHC
The station for this helicopter was Camp Holloway in South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 4 . . Injured = 3 . . Passengers = 2
costing 456354
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army Aviation Safety Center database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory

Crew Members:
AC W1 CD BAKER
P W1 JD MCGARRY
OB E5 E CHRISTOPH
CE PFC ANTOL DAVID KIA
G E5 RH KARNES

Passengers:
LTC BELNAP GLEN DEAN, AR, PX, KIA
SGM ROBERTS HERBERT JR, AR, PX, KIA

Accident Summary:

At 120 foot hover with LZ cutting equipment being lowered by rope, the tail rotor struck a tree. The aircraft crashed and burned.

War Story:
The LTC on board from 3rd Bde 4th Inf. took Antol's helmet to talk with the aircraft commander while they were landing so there was no way to clear the tail rotor on the left. Rules were changed after that incident re: letting anyone use crew helmets during flight. Antol was my best friend in the 189th. David Wilkie, Sep 97

This record was last updated on 09/20/98

The following is crew member information for this incident:

Name: PFC David Antol
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 12/20/67 while performing the duty of Crew Chief.
Age at death: 21.0
Date of Birth: 12/29/46
Home City: Dearborn, MI
Service: component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 189 AHC
Major organization: 1st Aviation Brigade
Service: U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 32E-029
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-16154
Service number: 55894343
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 67N20 = UH-1 Helicopter Repairer
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: crew chief
Started Tour: 05/04/67
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - other aircrew
Length of service: 01
Location: Kontum Province II Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Protestant - no denominational preference
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: enlisted personnel
This record was last updated on 10/04/97

Name: LTC Glen Dean Belnap
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 12/20/67 while performing the duty of Passenger.
Age at death: 44.9
Date of Birth: 01/18/23
Home City: Red Bluff, CA
Service: IN branch of the regular component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 3 BDE 4 INF
Major organization: 4th Infantry Division
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 32E-029
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-16154
Service number: O63088
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 1542 = 15 Infantry Unit Commander
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: passenger
Started Tour: 08/10/67
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - non-aircrew
Length of service: 22
Location: Kontum Province II Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Protestant - no denominational preference
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 10/04/97

Name: SGM Herbert Roberts, Jr.
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 12/20/67 while performing the duty of Passenger.
Age at death: 46.4
Date of Birth: 07/11/21
Home City: Sunbright, TN
Service: regular component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 3 BDE 4 INF
Major organization: 4th Infantry Division
Service: U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 32E-033
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 66-16154
Service number: 20429159
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 11G50 = Infantry Senior Sergeant
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: fire or burns
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: passenger
Started Tour: 08/25/67
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - non-aircrew
Length of service: 26
Location: Kontum Province II Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died while missing
married male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Relgion: Protestant - no denominational preference
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: enlisted personnel
This record was last updated on 10/04/97

The following is Goldbook information on US Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 66-16154
It is provided here as an ESTIMATE of the history of this helicopter and is not intended to be the final authority.
This helicopter was purchased by the US Army in .
Please provide any additional information on this helicopter to the VHPA.

DATE  FLT HRS    UIC      UNIT          AREA          POST          COUNTRY
6712   0    0 WDUVAA 189 AHC          VIETNAM                     VS

Please send additions or corrections to:

Gary Roush
43 Overbrook Road
Painted Post, NY 14870