JOINT POW/MIA ACCOUNTING COMMAND (JPAC)
RELEASE NO. #06-16
May 2, 2006
JPAC TEAMS DEPLOY TO LAOS TO SEARCH FOR MISSING AIRCREWS
HICKAM AFB, HAWAII Ð The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command sent four recovery teams to Laos this week for approximately 30 days to search for evidence associated with Americans who never returned from the Vietnam War.
Personnel from JPAC and the Lao PeopleÕs Democratic Republic are conducting recovery operations focusing on four American aircraft crews.
One case involves a Special Forces reconnaissance team that disappeared Jan. 5, 1968, after ground fire showered their UH-1D Helicopter and sent it plummeting to the ground. The aircraft exploded on impact. Five Americans are unaccounted-for from this incident.
The second excavation is associated with the loss of an F-4B Phantom that caught fire after it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft artillery Dec. 22, 1967. The crew parachuted from the aircraft roughly 500 feet above the ground. Two crewmembers remain unaccounted-for.
Another excavation is associated with an O-2A Skymaster pilot who didnÕt return from a combat support mission. While a fellow pilot witnessed the O-2A disappear behind a ridge on Feb. 19, 1971, the pilotÕs remains were never recovered.
The fourth team is excavating a site associated with a Skyraider A-1G aircraft that disappeared Feb. 25, 1967, during a reconnaissance mission. Reports suggest that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed on the lower side of a hill. The plane disintegrated on impact. One individual is unaccounted-for from this incident.
This mission is the 94th Joint Field Activity in Laos.
"Until they are home"