MICHAEL ALLEN HUGHEY
Specialist 5th Class, Combat Aviation Crew Chief
281st Assault Helicopter Company
From: Jacksonville, Florida
Born: May 7, 1948
Tour of duty began September 30, 1968
Killed in action on February 14, 1970 in
in Khanh Hoa, South Vietnam due to
helicopter crash of unknown cause.
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Michael Allen Hughey was
the crew chief on board UH-1H 66-17127 when the helicopter crashed
during the conduct of a "Sniffer" Mission, run out of Nha Trang,
South Vietnam killing the four 281st crew members and
two Special Forces equipment operators. The 281st
lost Warrant Officer Duke Payne, Aircraft Commander, Warrant
Officer Thomas Guenther, Pilot, and Specialist 5 Mike Hughey, Crew
Chief, and SGT Bobby Brewer, Door Gunner. A summary of the
accident follows:
The 281st
Helicopter, UH-1H, SN: 66-17127 was performing a combat
aviation support mission for the 5th Special Forces
Group using an Airborne Personnel Detector (SNIFFER) in the
vicinity of Dong Bo Mountain, 4 Nautical Miles Southwest of Nha
Trang, RVN. The aircraft carried six personnel on board; four aircraft crew
members and two Special Forces soldiers operating the SNIFFER
machine. At 1000 hours Army Aircraft 67-17127 took off from Nha
Trang AAF enroute to its mission on Dong Bo Mountain. Its
mission was to fly 50 Feet above the trees at 70 knots so that
the SNIFFER machine could detect any smoke in the area.
The lead gunship, piloted by WO1 Gardner and 1LT
McKeegan, was approximately 100 meters behind 66-17127. Based
on their observations, the aircraft may have had
an equipment failure causing the aircraft to assume a nose low
attitude which resulted in loss of altitude and impact
into the trees. The aircraft had a very
slow airspeed and low rotor RPM when it struck the trees, rolled
to the ground and exploded.
Following the explosion SP4 Johnson,
the Door Gunner on the Command Ship, was lowered to the ground,
near the crash site. There was no sign of life and SP4 Johnson
was recovered from the area. All of the individuals on board the helicopter were recovered and returned for burial.
The aircraft crash was classified as a non-hostile incident in that neither ground fire or hostile forces were observed in the area.
Michael Hughey and his
fellow crew members shall not be forgotten by the 281st AHC
Flight.
A MAN IS NOT DEAD UNTIL HE IS FORGOTTEN
ONCE AN INTRUDER ... ALWAYS AN INTRUDER