Originally Posted by
SASless
During the Cambodia Incursion late one afternoon having completed my appointed chores....I was approached by a 1st AirCav Pathfinder who begged me to fly three sling load sorties for him as his assigned Chinooks had all gone home due to the weather
I visually confirmed his loads were Ammo, Ammo/Water, and Ammo/water/food in that order and agreed to fly them as he was all but in tears over not being able to get his guys re-supplied and in real need.
Short version is there was a GCA at each end of the flight....one at the SF FOB and one at the location in Cambodia....with the plan being getting vectors and a GCA Approach at each end.
Half way there, while in/out of cloud with occasion sucker holes, in mountainous terrain.....the Bad Guys got involved and we got shot at by a .51 Cal and took a single hit....removing one fhe pedals from under my foot.
That severed some hydraulic lines and ignited a hydraulic fed fire turning the contents of the Utility Hydraulic system into a rather hot fire....being fanned with slipstream.
The flames passed back over the port side of the aircraft and burnt through the aluminum skin (and some of my own) and ignited some of the interior fabric lining of the cabin.
In time the fire died out as the contents of the system emptied....we jettisoned the sling load....did an IMC recovery to our takeoff point and I was taken. into the SF Camp to be rendered medical aid pending arrival of a Medieval Aircraft.
The close up photo of the pedal area shows some of the damage caused by the .51 Round......amazing how much power there is in such a thing even while 3-4,000 feet from the machine gun firing at you.
Another inch and I would not have any need to buy a full pair of sox.
The impact made a tremendous "Bang" and a lot of things happened all at once.
My left leg was jammed back under the seat, the aircraft really lurched about, and almost immediately flame enveloped the cockpit, making a hot greasy fire kind of noise....and my nomes flight suit and gloves began to burn away.
I recall seeing the backs of my hands bubble up and burst....which t has a way of focusing your thinking and you fall back upon your training and start earning. your flight pay.
Odd thing....we dealt with all of that without ever pulling out a checklist.
The entire crew.....five of us worked together and handled the problems.
Now....time for a big glass of Whisky and enjoy another beautiful Sun Set.
Get another large Whisky, I’m sorry I asked what happened, that is horrific….