| Date: 17 September 1968 |
| Aircraft type: F-8H Crusader |
| Serial Number: 148648 |
| Military Unit: VF-24 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Hancock |
| Name(s): |
| Lt(jg) Paul Eugene Swigart (Survived) |
| A section of Crusaders on a BARCAP mission engaged a number of MiG-21s near Vinh. After a long, indecisive engagement, Lt Cdr Red Isaacks and Lt Swigart had to break away from the fight when their fuel began to run low. The pair climbed towards the coast to rendezvous with a tanker for the return flight to the Hancock. However, minutes later the engine of Lt Swigart’s Crusader (call sign Page Boy 204) flamed out due to fuel starvation and the pilot ejected, coming down in the sea five miles from the island of Hon Nieu off the coast near Vinh. A SAR helicopter later picked him up safely. Lt Swigart was killed in a ramp strike accident on 4 February 1969.
HC-7 Rescue Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SEVEN (HC-7) was established September 1, 1967. While simultaneously providing several fleet support activities in the Gulf of Tonkin, HC-7 assumed the responsibility for North Vietnam naval combat search and rescue. HC-7 prepared for action using UH-2B Kaman Sea Sprite helos inherited from HC-1 and were stationed in detachments aboard small boys, destroyers (DDs) and Guided Missile Frigates (DLGs), patrolling off the coast of North Vietnam primarily for the purpose of Search and Rescue (SAR) duty. The information at the following link was compiled by Ron Milam, the historian for HC-7, from ship's deck logs, official HC-7 Rescue Reports, other official and unofficial documents, interviews with crew members and survivors, and other sources, including the Chris Hobson book upon which this site is based. The details for the rescue associated with this fixed wing loss can be accessed by clicking on this link. |
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