A/C 64-13153 Submitted by Steve Niedbala

06-25-67

A/C 153 used to be my A/C until I extended. I was on it from 300 A/C hrs. to over 1000 A/C hrs.

The F/E's name was Randy? he only crewed with me a couple of days and I'll be daggone if I can remember his name even though I have his picture.

Anyway, so the story goes, a fire broke out in the aft pylon in flight. The load was internal 60MM mortar rounds apparently loaded in such a way that Randy couldn't go forward. They say Randy used up what fire extinguishers were available but it didn't help. By this time another Boxcar had picked up the Mayday and was following A/C 153 down for an emergency landing in a rice paddy.

By Randy's own words "It got too hot so I left." The chase plane said Randy jumped off the ramp at about 50 ft. with about 50 knots forward airspeed. He landed on his head, got up and assisted the rest of the crew in getting off. They even managed to get the guns and some radios off before it got too hot. Randy later complained of a "stiff neck".

A/C 153 was destroyed in place with no attempt to recover what was left. An artillery strike was brought in to ensure complete destruction of any weapons/radios or ammo that may have survived.