What happened
During the Linebacker II mission, an aircraft operating under the call sign Brass 02 departed from Andersen AFB on Guam Island. The flight was manned by a total of six crew members. While traversing the airspace over Hanoi, the aircraft was targeted and struck by an enemy SA-2 surface-to-air missile.
Following the impact, the crew managed to navigate the plane out of the immediate combat zone. The flight continued toward Thailand; however, the damage sustained during the engagement eventually led to the loss of the aircraft. The plane crashed approximately 16 km southwest of Nakhon Phanom. Although the aircraft was completely destroyed upon impact, all six crew members managed to survive the incident and abandon the wreckage.
Findings
Investigations into the loss of the aircraft concluded that the primary reason for the crash was that the plane was shot down by enemy fire.