Background
On a bombing mission over the A Shau Valley, two Boeing B-52 Stratofortress aircraft departed Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The first aircraft, a B-52D-75-BO registered 56-0595, carried a crew of six. The second, a B-52D-80-BO registered 56-0627, carried a crew of seven. Their target was the A Shau Valley.
Collision
As the formation approached the coast of South Vietnam, both aircraft collided and crashed into the mouth of the Mekong River, approximately 100 kilometers south of Saigon. Following the crash, three crew members from 56-0595 and three from 56-0627 were found alive.
Crews
The crew of 56-0595 included Captain George Westbrook (pilot), Captain Harold Dean Thompson (copilot), Captain Charles Herman Blankenship (navigator), First Lieutenant George Emerson Jones (radio navigator), Captain Toki Endo (electronic warfare officer), and Master Sergeant Olen Burke McLaughlin (air gunner).
The crew of 56-0627 consisted of Major John Suther (pilot), Captain William Creedon (copilot), Lieutenant Rod Gable (navigator), Major General William Joseph Crumm (air commander), Major Paul Andrew Avolese (radio navigator), Captain David Fritz Bittenbender (electronic warfare officer), and Sergeant Lynn Chase (air gunner).