| Date: 4 March 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-5C Freedom Fighter |
| Serial Number: 65-10540 |
| Military Unit: 10 FCS, 3 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Bien Hoa |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Frank David Wiley (KIA) |
| During a close air support mission in South Vietnam an F-5 suffered an engine failure and crashed in Bien Hoa province, killing the pilot. This was the last of nine F-5Cs lost by the USAF during the war, seven of them to enemy action, with six pilots being killed. The F-5 had proved to be a reliable and effective close air support aircraft but lacked range and enduance and was no improvement on the F-100s and F-4s used by the USAF. As the Air Force had decided not to adopt the F-5 on a permament basis the 10th FCS’s aircraft were handed over to the VNAF’s 522nd Fighter Squadron in April 1967 as the first of over 260 F-5s used by that air force. |
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