Helicopter Crew Fatalities During Korean War

Contents

• 1950
• 1951
• 1952
• 1953

1950

November 28, 1950: H-5H #49-2009 Crash in Korea

Fatalities (1):

• Parker, Robert B.

July 3, 1951: Rescue Mission in Korea

A helicopter rescue unit was returning from a mission to retrieve downed USMC pilot James V. Wilkins when their helicopter was hit by enemy fire and crashed into the side of a mountain in Korea. The pilot, Lt. John Kelvin Koeslsch was accompanied by a second volunteer for the mission, Petty Officer 3C George Neal. The three men survived the crash but were taken captive and held as prisoners of war. Neal and Wilkins were eventually repatriated, but Lieutenant Koelsch died in captivity in October 1951 of dysentery and malnutrition. As the result of his actions in the rescue mission and immediately thereafter, Lieutenant Koelsch was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. See his citation.

Fatalities (1):

• Koelsch, Lt. John Kelvin (Navy) (POW)

1951

September 13, 1951: H-5G, #48-555 Crash in Korea

Fatalities (1):

• Kohfield, Eugene C.

1952

June 25, 1952: H-5H, #4;9-200 crashed in Korea

Fatalities (1):

• Lear, Leslie W.

August 19, 1952: H-19A #51-3876 near San Marco, Texas

The helicopter crashed and burned after its rear propeller tore loose in flight. The instructor and a student were killed.

Fatalities (2):

• Armstrong, 1Lt. Verne - student on temporary duty at San Marcos Air Force Base.
• King, Capt. Ralph H. - instructor pilot on this flight; son of Mr. and Mrs. William E. King of Baltimore, Maryland. He was survived by a wife and five children.

November 13, 1952: Bell HTL-1, 2460, Coast Guard near Beverly, Massachusetts

En route to a practice landing site in Beverly, Massachusetts, the helicopter developed engine and control problems and crashed out of control in a residential area. Both of those aboard were killed.

Fatalities (2):

• McCue, CDR Joseph F. (commander)
• White, AD1 Henry J. (crewman)

1953

July 30, 1953: H-19A #51-3896 near O'Neill, Nebraska

A blade of the central rotor came off in flight and struck the rear balancing rotor, causing the crash. The 6,200-pound helicopter was being used in connection with an Air Force study of upper air turbulence. The crew of six was killed.

Fatalities (6):

• Eddy, A2C Donald
• Gasque, Lt. Francis L. (co-pilot) from Conway, South Carolina.
• Ide, Robert (crew chief)
• Johnson, Capt. Charles A. (pilot) from San Gabriel, California.
• Loeser, Dr. Guenter - Age 40, a leading German meteorological scientist.
• Mapes, A2C Francis "Jerry"

November 17, 1953: YH-21 #50-1240 in Thule Airfield, Greenland

A late-type Arctic rescue helicopter crashed after it had trouble with one rotor. The crew of four was killed.

Fatalities (4):

• Burkes, Capt. Edward E. 
• Danner, TSgt. Clay H. - age 36 from Valle Crucis, North Carolina.
• Gottfried, Capt. Raymond C. - from Brooklyn, New York.
• Moore, SSgt. Philip E.