| Date: 14 September 1968 |
| Aircraft type: A-7A Corsair |
| Serial Number: 154344 |
| Military Unit: VA-27 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Constellation |
| Name(s): |
| Cdr George Theodore Pappas (Survived) |
| The second Corsair lost by VA-27 almost resulted in the loss of the Squadron’s CO. Cdr Pappas (call sign Charger 601) was leading a flight of aircraft on a raid on the ferry across the Ngan Pho River at Linh Cam, 10 miles southeast of Vinh. As Cdr Pappas was pulling up from his first dive on the target, his aircraft was hit in the starboard wing by AAA. The flight control system was damaged and the starboard aileron was deflected fully up, which required full left aileron to fly level. The aircraft was also losing fuel, and a fire threatened to burn the port wing off. Cdr Pappas flew his badly damaged aircraft back to Da Nang, but as he started on the final approach the fire increased in intensity. The aircraft engaged the runway arrester gear but the cable broke, and the aircraft veered off the runway. As this point Cdr Pappas ejected and landed close to the burning remains of his Corsair. George Pappas returned to the Constellation and continued to lead his squadron until February 1969, despite a knee injury. |
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