Historic Overweight C130 Incident

[SASless]

I carried 138 Rice Pickers plus our crew of 5 in an A Model Chinook....Vietnamese rice farmers are short and skinny ....most with the black pajamas and bare feet. The old girl would have not have gone far if we had lost an engine!

The loading technique was Troop seats folded...pack the cabin full...keep the Ramp level....load it to capacity...taxi forward and jam on the brakes and raise the Ramp.

HSE folks would have had conniption fits!

Originally Posted by NutLoose

Husband, wife and 5 kids in a Birdog.

The Opportunity to Make History: Vietnam War Hero?s Flight to Freedom Remembered | Naval Historical Foundation


Chinooks were first used in combat in 1965 during the Vietnam conflict. During the last days of the war, one Chinook is reported to have carried 147 refugees in a single lift.