| Date: 4 January 1973 |
| Aircraft type: B-52D Stratofortress |
| Serial Number: 55-0056 |
| Military Unit: 307 SW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: U-Tapao |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col Gerald Wickline (Survived) |
| Capt Myles McTernan (Survived) |
| Capt William F Milcarke (Survived) |
| 3 crew, names unknown (Survived) |
| Just five days after the end of Linebacker II another B-52 was lost when it was damaged by an SA-2 during a raid on Vinh. The aircraft (call sign Ruby 2) was hit just as it released its bombs about 15 miles southwest of the city. The two port outer engines were knocked out and the hydraulic and electrical systems were damaged and the aircraft depressurised when the cockpit windows were shattered. Lt Col Wickline took the aircraft out to sea and tried to reach Da Nang. However, just 25 miles northeast of the airfield the aircraft became uncontrollable and the commander ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft. All the crew left safely with the exception of Capt McTernan, the navigator, whose ejection seat only moved a little way downwards out of the aircraft before it came to a sudden stop. Capt McTernan had great difficulty in unstrapping and climbing out of his seat so that he could bail out through an open hatch. He hit the aircraft structure on the way out and landed in the sea in a semi-conscious state and without a life raft in 8-10 feet-high waves. McTernan came down several miles from the rest of his crew who were quickly rescued by a USAF and Navy SAR helicopters. By an amazing stroke of luck he was spotted after several hours by a rescue aircraft that overflew him as it was returning to Da Nang for fuel. Capt McTernan was then rescued by a Marine Corps helicopter. |
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