The following
is partially taken from de-classified CIA files. A good friend, Neil Hansen, was a pilot for Jimmy Hoffa in the early '60s and answered a blind ad for
"pilots wanted" After a strange phone interview he was hired sight unseen and ended up in SE Asia in 1964 making good money flying for Air America.
He stayed after the fall of Saigon flying rice drops out of Laos and escaped with his wife when things got hotter later in 1974. He is now 71, living in
Northern Michigan, and still active in writing and speaking engagements. He was buddies with Tony Poe, Vang Pao, and other (in)famous characters. I have other
stories from him if there is an interest.
Other battles raged in the south of Laos, where, especially in the Pakse
(L-11) and Saravane (L-44) areas, there was severe fighting, costing lots of lives and causing Air America the loss of several aircraft. One of the most adventurous was that of C-123K "648", which was shot down in southern Laos during the Saravane operation on 6 December 72, when it was en route from Pakse (L-11) to several forward drop zones in the New Paksong (LS-180) area.
"648" had been loaded with several pounds of cargo - a mixed load of small arms ammunition, mortar bombs, grenades, etc. loaded onto 14 pallets - which was destined for drop zones known as "I" pad, "A" pad, and "V" pad. Then, about 3 kms south of Paksong (LS-449), in the New Paksong (LS-180) area, Laos, "648" was hit by several rounds of hostile ground fire.
Immediately, the crew noted several large holes in both wings and a failure of the aileron system, making only partial elevator and rudder control of the aircraft possible.
With the aircraft struggling to climb, even with full power, the crew jettisoned all but one or two pallets of the remaining cargo.
Then, over LS-449, the Pilot in Command, Captain Neil G. Hansen ordered the crew to bail out. After some discussion, the First Officer and the two Thai kickers parachuted out. Captain Hansen made one more circle of LS-449, secured the controls and reduced right engine power in an attempt to regain flight control, but then left the cockpit, ran thru the cabin hanging onto the static line and exited the aircraft thru the right rear troop door. During the parachute decent he observed the aircraft impact in a 5 degree nose down attitude and 15 degree right bank. It first appeared to break up with clouds of dust and smoke, and then flames rose from the wreckage, as the last noted fuel reading had been 3,600 pounds of remaining fuel - enough to destroy the aircraft by fire. All of the crew received only minor injuries, but the rescue proved to become another Odyssey:
The first Air America rescue chopper to arrive on scene was UH-34D H-52, which picked up one kicker and the First Officer on the ground and used the cable hoist for Captain Hansen. But in picking up the Captain, the tail rotor of H-52 contacted nearby trees and the aircraft was forced to set down prematurely near Paksong (LS-449) in a mine field. A second Air America UH-34D, H-53, completed this rescue, but, some twenty-five minutes out of the Paksong area enroute to Pakse (L-11), it was forced to land with low fuel.
So, a third Air America rescue helicopter arrived, this time S-58T XW-PHE, and now finally, the ill-fated crew could be safely returned to Pakse (L-11). In the meantime, a fourth Air America chopper, that is UH-34D H-81, had picked up the other kicker and returned him to Pakse. But "648" was not the only aircraft, Air America lost in the battle in southern Laos, and as a total, the Company lost no less than 12 aircraft in 1972, and all of them in Laos.
Starner, The calm in the eye of a storm, p.24.
An amusing version of this discussion appears in Robbins, Air America, pp.217-18. However, in his statement about this accident dated 7 December 72 (p.3, in: UTD/CIA/B61F15), Captain Hansen himself notes the following: "The F/O left the cockpit and joined the kickers by the left troop door, I unbuckled and planned going with them when I rang the bell. I rolled out on final, rang the bell and started to get up when I noticed the F/O coming back to the cockpit for his survival radio; ok abort. Next time around on final, I discovered the F/O back in the cockpit getting his camera. I informed him rather severely to return to the posterior of the A/C. On short final, I rang the bell again and observed AFD [...] go first, F/O [...] second, and AFD [...] going last. By this time, it was too late for me to get out and still be in friendly ground, so back around again..." .
