| Date: 17 January 1969 |
| Aircraft type: F-4D Phantom |
| Serial Number: 66-8773 |
| Military Unit: 390 TFS, 366 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Victor Arlon Smith (KIA) |
| 1Lt James R Fegan (Survived) |
| A Stormy FAC was lost when a flight of Phantoms was despatched on an armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos. The flight spotted an anti-aircraft gun position in a valley near Ban Vangthon and rolled in to bomb it. The aircraft were met by a light barrage of 37mm ground fire and Capt Smith’s aircraft (call sign Stormy 1) was hit, setting the wing on fire. The WSO ejected first, as was normal for the Phantom, but it is not known if Capt Smith ejected from the aircraft before it crashed. In a large-scale rescue effort 1Lt Fegan was eventually rescued the next day by a USAF HH-53B from the 40th ARRS but Capt Smith, who had served in the US Marine Corps before joining the USAF, was never found. The rescue of 1Lt Fegan was probably the most intensive rescue effort of the war so far involving 284 aircraft sorties over several days. |
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