fairchild ac-119g shadow gunship (52-5907)

FAIRCHILD AC-119G SHADOW GUNSHIP (REGISTRATION: 52-5907)
On October 11, 1969, a U.S. Air Force Fairchild AC-119G Shadow gunship was departing for a mission from Tan Son Nhat Air Base near Saigon when the left engine caught fire immediately after lifting off. The fully-laden airplane went into a sharp left turn and went down 500 yards to the left of the west runway in a rice paddy where it burst into flames. Six of the ten personnel aboard were killed in the crash. A Vietnamese civilian on the ground was also killed when the wreckage plowed into their home. The lost Americans included pilot MAJ Bernard R. Knapic, co-pilot CAPT John H. Hathaway, navigators MAJ Jerome J. Rice and MAJ Moses L. Alves, flight engineer SSGT Abraham Moore, and aerial photographer SSGT Ellsworth S. Bradford. The other four persons, which included two crew and two passengers, one a member of the Vietnamese Air Force, survived in good condition after being treated at the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon.