MIA “Off-the-Scope”

Aircraft Losses

National League of POW/MIA Families

2018 Annual MeetingKarin Steadman & Joseph Mortati

1. Introductions

2. Sources of Information

3. Working through a case, step-by-step

4. Case Study #1 – 0359, June 13, 1966

5. Case Study #2 – 1781, November 26, 1971

6. Questions and Answers

Agenda

Step 1 – Sources of Information

1. Message Traffic, also known as TWX (pronounced “twix”)

2. Official statements of Loss:○ Air Force Form 484 - Missing Person Supplementary Report

○ Army Form 130-R - Report of Incident

○ Department of Defense Form 1300 - Report of Casualty

3. Intelligence Reports/Group 559 Reports

4. Unit Memos or Statements-for-the-Record

5. Personal correspondence

6. Follow-up statements

7. Families of other crewmen (get the same files)

8. Library of Congress for Search-and-Rescue (SAR) Logs

9. National Archives Southeast Asia Archival Databases

1. Mission type and Flight plan route

2. Time (planned vs. actual; can be different zones)

Step 2 – Recreating the Flight

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zulu Time

Thailand Time aka G Time

GMT + 7

Vietnam Time aka H Time

GMT + 8

Time Zones

1. Mission type and Flight plan route

2. Time (planned vs. actual; can be different zones)

Step 2 – Recreating the Flight

3. Weather conditions

4. Position (can be in different formats)

Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (historical)

17°10'27.59"N

105°44'58.18"E

Degrees, Decimal Minutes (historical)

17° 10.460'N

105° 44.970’E

Decimal Degrees (GPS)

17.174331°

105.749494°

Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)

579706.38 m E

1898994.46 m N

Military Grid Reference System (MGRS)

48QWD7970698994

Aircraft Position Data Formats

1. Mission type and Flight plan route

2. Time (planned vs. actual; can be different zones)

3. Weather conditions

4. Position (can be in different formats)

Step 2 – Recreating the Flight

5. Altitude/Airspeed/Heading

6. Additional mission notes

1. Plot locations of cases resolved by DPAA

2. Status of uncorrelated cases

3. Work from the known to the unknown

4. Don’t stumble over outlying information

5. Remember the KISS Principle

6. Ask the League’s Archival Research Committee

(ARC) for help

Step 3 – Work from Big to Small

Case Study #1

Case 0359 – June 13, 1966

Martin B-57 Canberra

Source: Jeremy Boucher

“Pathfinder” Formation

Source: 35CSGP MSG DTG14115ZJUN66

10 miles

Flight heading

Post-hoc Eyewitness

Statements

24 miles

Case Study #2

Case 1781 – November 26, 1971

Source: Maj Wendell Keller, USAF

Mission Recap

25Sources: AF Form 484, SAR Logs

Ubon and Nakhon Phanom (NKP) Laos Flight Schedules – November 25/26, 1971

26Source: Library of Congress

Search-and-Rescue

(SAR) Records Review

27

Case 1781

target area

Cone where flares

were sighted Nov

26

Palmer flight

positon at 3:45 AM

10 miles

28

Flares sighted in this cone

Stinger 09 arrives

over target at 3:40

AM

Source: SAR Logs

29

Nov 29 recon

run

SAR Area 19

searched Nov 26-

Dec 3

SAR Area 21

searched Nov 26-

Dec 3

SAR Area 20

searched Nov 26-

Dec 3

SAR Area 22

searched Nov 26-

Dec 3

Case 1781 Areas searched by date

Case 1781

target area

SAR area

searched Nov 29

10 miles

D52

Source: SAR Logs

30Source: USAF Museum

31Source: SAR Logs

03:15 (unk)

03:10 (jet)

E105.90 E106.00 E106.10 E106.20

N17.20

N17.10

N17.00

10 km

03:28

(unk)

03:09 (prop)

D52

32Source: SAR Logs

1

2

3

4

"The Martyrs of the People's

Air Force of Vietnam" (2004)

No Vietnamese Air Force

losses in November 1971

33

34

Owl 08 Projected

Flightpaths

Proposed SAR

area (never

searched)

Excavated

sites

3Potential crash

location

1Projected flight

path returning to

tanker

Stinger

09 target

10 miles

D

5

2

D52

2Projected flight

path returning to

Ubon

F-4 #3153

found here

Triple Ejector Bomb Rack (TER) found

35

F-

4

Source: Excavation Report #2013-095R

36

F-4 Left Aileron Hydraulic Cylinder Data Plate

Source: Excavation Report #2013-095R

37

Unidentified Aircraft Compass Data Plate

Source: Excavation Report #2013-095R

38

Jet Engine Starter Data Plate

Source: Excavation Report #2013-095R

39

Jet Engine Starter Data Plate from an F-4C, F-4D, or an RF-4C

19 F-4 MIA Losses within 50 miles of #3153

40Sources: Multiple

#1405

approximate

heading 1 mile

41Sources: Google Earth, Multiple

#0956 approximate

heading

1

2

3

Q + A

42