Operation Frequent Wind - Chaos at Sea

Chaos At Sea

During the course of the operation an unknown number of VNAF helicopters flew out of what remained of South Vietnam to the fleet. Around 12:00 five or six VNAF UH-1Hs and one of the stolen ICCS UH-1Hs, serial number 69-16715, were circling around the USS Blue Ridge. The VNAF pilots had been instructed after dropping off their passengers to ditch their helicopters and they would then be picked up by the ship's boat. The pilot of the stolen ICCS Huey had been told to ditch off the aft left side of the ship, but seemed reluctant to do so, flying around the ship to the front right side he jumped from his helicopter at a height of 40 feet (12 m). His helicopter turned and hit the side of the USS Blue Ridge before hitting the sea. The tail rotor sheared off and embedded itself in the engine of an Air America Bell 205 that was doing a hot refueling on the helipad at the rear of the ship. The Air America pilot shut down his helicopter and left it and moments later a VNAF UH-1H attempted to land on the helipad, locked rotors with the Air America Bell almost pushing it overboard. The stolen Air America Bell 204, serial number N1305X landed on the USS Kirk, from where it was flown to the USS Okinawa by US Navy pilots.

So many South Vietnamese helicopters landed on the TF76 ships that some 45 UH-1 Hueys and at least one CH-47 Chinook were pushed overboard to make room for more helicopters to land. Other helicopters dropped off their passengers and were then ditched into the sea by their pilots, close to the ships, their pilots bailing out at the last moment to be picked up by rescue boats.

• VNAF Hueys and a CH-47 Chinook arrive at USS Midway

• VNAF Huey full with evacuees on the deck of the USS Midway

• RVNAF Huey is pushed overboard from USS Midway.

• VNAF pilot jumps from his Huey after dropping evacuees on USS Midway

One of the more notable events occurred on the USS Midway when the pilot of a VNAF Cessna O-1 Bird Dog dropped a note on the deck of the carrier, the note read "Can you move these helicopter to the other side, I can land on your runway, I can fly 1 hour more, we have enough time to move. Please rescue me. Major Buang, Wife and 5 child." Midway's CO, Captain L.C. Chambers ordered the flight deck crew to clear the landing area. Once the deck was clear Major Buang approached the deck, bounced once and then touched down and taxied to a halt with room to spare. Major Buang became the first VNAF fixed-wing pilot to ever land on a carrier. A second Cessna O-1 was also recovered by the USS Midway that afternoon.

• Major Buang on final approach

• Major Buang taxies to a halt

• Midway deck crew surround Major Buang and his family