1977 Mindoro Crash ________________________________________ Thirty five years ago today, on October 21, 1977 a CH-53 crashed on the Philippine island of Mindoro, killing 24 of the 37 onboard. Our battalion, BLT 3/9 had just finished Operation Fortress Lightning and we were being transported by helos back to Subic Bay, where we would later board the ships and head back to Okinawa. This CH-53, with it’s crew of four was carrying 31 Marines and two Navy Corpsmen with all of their gear. It also had a water bull hooked to the lift under it. If my knowledge and memory serves me correctly, there was some type of problem with the tail rotor which caused it to go into a spin shortly after take off. It struck the side of a mountain, rolling down the mountain and eventually bursting into flames. I believe, or at least was always told that all of the 13 survivors were either thrown out during the spin or fell out as it rolled down the mountain. I do know that at least a couple of them were found in tree tops. A few of these guys went through ITS in Camp Pendleton with me and we all went as a group to Okinawa in 1976 for a one year assignment with 3/9. At the time of this crash, we had less than 2 months until we returned to the states. Unfortunately, news of this helicopter crash was then, and remains today overshadowed by the news of a plane crash in Mississippi a couple of hours earlier that killed members of the band Lynard Skynard. Rest in Peace, Brothers. You are not forgotten. • Capt. J. L. Crapse • Capt. G. M. Gebhardt • Sgt. D. G. Smith • Sgt. C. W. Anderson • Sgt. W. E. Casey • Cpl. O. Hallam • Cpl. R. N. Bennett • Cpl. L. H. Ernsberger Jr. • LCpl. F. R. Aguirre • LCpl. A. R. Baker • LCpl. A. R. Dicag • LCpl. A. Suda Jr. • LCpl. S. R. Bowman • LCpl. M. L. Fitzpatrick • LCpl. H. J. Layne • LCpl. M. L. Quiane • LCpl. J. L. West • PFC J. P. Bauer • PFC K. M. Brinkley • PFC B. I. Jones • PFC M. A. Lafferre • PFC K. K. Schwartz • PFC D. A. Wright • HA S. R. Dolan (USN)
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 03:01:35 +0000