| Date: 9 January 1967 |
| Aircraft type: AC-47D Gunship I |
| Serial Number: 43-49124 |
| Military Unit: 4 ACS, 14 ACW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Nha Trang detached to Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Charles William Robertson (KIA) |
| 1Lt James Donald Goodman (KIA) |
| Maj Joseph Edgar Wilkinson (KIA) |
| SSgt Raymond Medina (KIA) |
| SSgt Cecil Truman Thompson (KIA) |
| A1C Dana Richard Kelley (KIA) |
| A2C Lonny Leroy Mitzel (KIA) |
| The Spooky gunship was one of the most important assets for defence of friendly troops and villages at night. However, it was slow and relatively easy to track as it left a circular wake of tracer as it orbited the target and so it was vulnerable. On the night of the 8th a gunship was assigned a target near Duc Pho close to the coast, about 20 miles south of Quang Ngai. As it approached the target under low cloud the AC-47 (call sign Spooky 1) was hit in the mid-fuselage by automatic weapons fire. Burning furiously, the aircraft quickly became uncontrollable and crashed near the target killing the crew. |
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