BURKE JOHN JOSEPH

Narrative

Aircraft was hit by eneny fire not long after picking up wounded near Hue. Since the mission was rather close to the HMM-364 base at Phu Bai, operations could monitor the radio traffic. MAJ Demko radioed that they had been hit and that the hydraulic and control systems were effected. They were still at a low altitude when the aircraft pitched up, rolled inverted and crashed. The second helicopter landed and some of that crew helped rescue the injured from the crashed CH-46D. A Sqdn maintenance team retrieved the wreckage with another CH-46D. It was a shocking chain of pieces held together with pipes and cables that bore no resemblance to a helicopter.