| Date: 1 April 1968 |
| Aircraft type: P-3B Orion |
| Serial Number: 153445 |
| Military Unit: VP-26 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: U-Tapao on TDY from Sangley Point |
| Name(s): |
| Lt(jg) Frank E Hand (KIA) |
| Lt(jg) Stuart M McLellan (KIA) |
| Lt(jg) Brian J Mathison (KIA) |
| Lt(jg) Michael J Purcell (KIA) |
| AME2 Donald W Burnside (KIA) |
| AT1 Kenneth L Crist (KIA) |
| AO2 William S Cutting (KIA) |
| AXC Donald E Kulacz (KIA) |
| AX3 Delmar L Lawrence (KIA) |
| AE1 Donald F Wood (KIA) |
| ADJ2 Edward O Wynder (KIA) |
| AX1 Alvin G Yoximer (KIA) |
| Just two months after losing a P-3 with all hands off the coast of South Vietnam, the VP-26 detachment at U-Tapao lost another aircraft, this time due to enemy action. Crew One reported that they were being shot at near the island of Hon Doc, 10 miles out to sea from Ha Tien, which sits astride South Vietnam’s coastal border with Cambodia. The Orion (call sign Hurdy Gurdy 9) was hit in the starboard wing by automatic weapons fire. One of the aircraft’s engines caught fire and the pilot headed out to sea in an attempt to return to U-Tapao. However, after a few minutes the fire became more intense and the aircraft crashed near the small island of Hon Vang, one of a small group of islands just off the southern tip of the large island of Dao Phu Quoc. All 12 crew were killed in the crash. It was a tragic coincidence that VP-26 should suffer two of the three fatal incidents involving US Navy patrol aircraft during the war and in such a short space of time. |
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