| Date: 6 September 1972 |
| Aircraft type: A-4F Skyhawk |
| Serial Number: 155021 |
| Military Unit: VA-212 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Hancock |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Willard Francis Pear (Survived) |
| Later in the day a pair of Skyhawks on an armed reconnaissance mission found several trucks on a coastal road about 10 miles south of Thanh Hoa. As Lt Pear was about to pull up from his second pass at 5,000 feet his aircraft (call sign Flying Eagle 304) was hit in the tail by 23mm flak. He turned towards the sea with the aircraft on fire and the engine winding down slowly. About five miles out to sea the controls suddenly froze and the aircraft started to roll to the left so Lt Pear ejected. He was later rescued by a Navy helicopter. This was the last of 12 aircraft lost by the Hancock before completing its seventh tour on 25 September. The ship would return to Vietnam on 19 May 1973 for her eighth war cruise, a record for any TF 77 carrier, but no further aircraft were lost on her final tour. The USS Hancock was decommissioned on 30 January 1976 and was subsequently scrapped.
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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