| Date: 5 February 1969 |
| Aircraft type: EC-47Q Skytrain |
| Serial Number: 45-1133 |
| Military Unit: 362 TEWS, 460 TRW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Pleiku |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Homer Morgan Lynn (KIA) |
| Capt Walter Francis Burke (KIA) |
| Maj Harry Tilman Niggle (KIA) |
| Maj Robert Eugene Olson (KIA) |
| MSgt Wilton Neil Hatton (KIA) |
| SSgt James Vernon Dorsey (KIA) |
| SSgt Rodney Herschel Gott (KIA) |
| SSgt Hugh Leslie Sherburn (KIA) |
| TSgt Louis John Clever (KIA) |
| Sgt Clarence Leon McNeill (KIA) |
| An EC-47 was shot down by ground fire near Ban Phan, 25 miles southeast of Saravan in southern Laos. The aircraft (call sign Cap 7) was on a radio direction finding mission in an attempt to locate enemy forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. A search was initiated after the aircraft failed to make a scheduled stop at Phu Bai. Despite six days of searching no crash site was found and nothing was heard from any of the 10 crew. However, in October 1969 the wreckage of an aircraft was discovered near Ban Phan and a team visited the site to confirm its identity as that of the missing EC-47. The starboard wing was found about 500 yards away from the rest of the wreckage and showed sign of fire damage originating from the engine. Human remains were recovered from the crash site and were eventually returned to the USA for burial in a communal grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St Louis as positive identification could only be made for seven of the crew. Most of the enlisted crewmembers who operated the classified listening and encryption equipment were members of the 6994th Security Squadron. |
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