| Date: 2 November 1966 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 60-0469 |
| Military Unit: 421 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Robert Earl Kline (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 62-4379 |
| Military Unit: 421 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Robert F Loken (Survived) |
| A flight of four F-105s on an armed reconnaissance mission ran into trouble about 30 miles northwest of Yen Bai. The aircraft were attacking trains and bridges on the northwest railway line along which supplies were brought into North Vietnam from China. Maj Kline (call sign Cobalt 2) was strafing a train when his aircraft crashed either as a result of ground fire or by flying into the ground. Robert Kline had survived being shot down only a week earlier when his aircraft was hit during a mission over Laos on 27 October. Unfortunately on this occasion his luck deserted him.
Moments later Capt Loken’s aircraft (call sign Cobalt 4) was hit by ground fire as he was strafing a railway bridge at Khe Se, 25 miles northwest of Yen Bai. The pilot flew his badly damaged aircraft across North Vietnam and into Laos but was forced to eject 25 miles west of Sam Neua where he was rescued by a USAF HH-3E (Jolly Green 53) from Udorn operating from a forward site at LS 98. |
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