Why the U.S. Military Pushed $10 Million Worth of Helicopters Overboard

It's 1975, and a small Vietnamese civilian aircraft is desperate to land on the flight deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier. It becomes a dramatic race against time to clear the deck before the plane runs out of fuel.
From the Series: Combat Ships: Cold War Warriors: bit.ly/2KsqAOn

[@VandalAudi]

No carrier landing experience, on an aircraft not designed for carrier landing, and with family members as the passenger. Did it in one try. Sheer desperation and balls of steel.

[@luisangeli9208]

Absolutely agree with you

[@laurendoe168]

You know what they say, "Necessity is a mother."

[@Defender78]

Thank gosh the Major had a pen on board with him! Awesome way it turned out, and how Buang gives a rockstar wave as he walks onto the deck

[@zaxmaxlax]

People do what they had to do. There was no choice.

[@skunkjobb]

Such a small plane with low landing speed is really not hard to do. The carrier is a lot larger than many grass strips such planes have landed on.

[@Straswa]

Impressive how Major Buang was able to land his civilian plane with no tailhook on a carrier with a wet flightdeck. Helicopters can be replaced, lives cannot.

[@thanosmaster-abel559]

7 lives > 10 million dollars All life is priceless

[@BengalLancer]

10 million Vietnam's Dollars you mean. The carrier captain didn't threw out 10 million dollars worth of "American air capacity". He pushed overboard only the excess Vietnamese military aircraft landed on his deck with refugees. Certainly those machines are a burden. I think If he had done any harm to any machines belonging to his CAW to save Vietnamese lives he would himself be thrown overboard by JAG. Good thing that all ended safely for both sides.

[@pppooppoo7763]

@@BengalLancer those helicopters are American made hueys...

[@heanvisalseyhak9487]

@@BengalLancer yeah didn’t you use your eye to see? Those heli was made by the US and give tot he S.Vietnam somit still theirs and cost money

[@vesogry]

What if it was 10 billion? Still priceless?

[@tungvlog1465]

@@BengalLancer do you have any ideas how much a usd to vnd back then? LOL Im Vietnamese by the way. right now it's about 23,000 vnd to 1 USD

[@whyyoumadbro2370]

You can see Major Buang's plane on Midway as part of the museum today.

[@frankgray5437]

Then why did I read that the plane is at Pensacola Florida, not at San Diego where the Midway is?

[@whyyoumadbro2370]

@@frankgray5437 Maybe they moved it? I'm not up to date, so my guess is they put a replica??

[@Firefox612]

A replica hangs in the Midway.

[@christophers.8553]

@@Firefox612 Correct, I think the Midway has the original note and another J19. NAS Pensacola's excellent museum has the original plane.

[@BogusAllen]

@@frankgray5437the midway loaned it from pensacola

[@AlfDog1955]

I was a young Marine corporal aboard the Midway during this operation and was hands on in pushing several of those choppers off the flight deck. So many years ago, but every time I see a photo or video of that time, I can still hear the sounds, smell the smells, feel the heat of that day, and the many other days leading up to and after this.

[@jamesfarrell8339]

Semper Fi Marine Crazy times

[@OliverSolorzano]

Very fascinating story!! Thank you for your service. Wish you good health and mental peace. By any chance, do you appear on this video? Can you recognize yourself in the scenes if you do appear?

[@kewl800i]

Good thing the aircraft carrier handled well the sheer weight of Major Buang's balls of steel.

[@foxtrotnine2504]

Haha is if the plane fall cuz of the weitght. But yeah his balls so big the whole air craft carrier will sink

[@doodskie999]

"Buang" means Crazy in my country, this guy had crazy balls to do it Kudos to this pilot

[@drdisrespect5318]

Buang means "Throw away" in my language. This guy just threw away 10 mil worth of aircraft lol.

[@XXNerdzillaXX]

Really?! What country are you from?

[@user-gn6kd7ox1s]

@@XXNerdzillaXX Philippines

[@karolstevenvillacarillo1036]

Boang

[@user-gn6kd7ox1s]

Buang jud

[@markianecat1093]

That's how you see people think for good

[@roddraym]

Now is another time to practice such exemplary efforts (COVID-19); choosing to make sacrifices for the greater good! Thanks for your comment.

[@GRZNGT]

Obvious question - why didn't they get the Helis into air?

[@phishENchimps]

retreating? The War was over. The Peace treaty was signed in 1972. All troops were withdrawn in 1973. So, for 2 years, the South was alone to defend themselves.

[@A3Kr0n]

I heard they pushed them over to make room for more incoming copters. Too many on board.

[@phishENchimps]

Looks like they (someone) needs to ask the members of the crew why. They are still alive and probably remember that event.

[@SirDrFish]

I don't know how the aircraft carriers operate, but would they even have enough pilots capable of flying all helicopters on board at once? Plus that many helicopters in the air at once in a very short period of time would probably put even more lives at risk. Seemed like an all or nothing situation. It is a bit of a misguided waste from a utilitarian perspective, imagine how many more lives could have been saved with $10,000,000 back then by funding social welfare systems or healthcare? But that's just the nature of America's MIC and overall view towards military spending compared to alternatives.

[@angelvalencia6782]

even the pilot himself said to move the helicopters to the other side,more baffling is that they pushed them off the ship .they also had a little less than an hour to launch as many helicopters as they could before taking the more drastic choice . at this point i only see 2 possible choice 1 they wouldnt mind losing helicopters and 2 they may have done it to boost the general look of the military due to the extreme disatisfaction back home .make them look more righteous

[@ruben7820]

Imagine if the plane just flew off after they pushed them into the water

[@ashemgold]

Best ploy by enemy ever.

[@nexxus2614]

Epic troll

[@datboi5671]

They probably pushed the helis in because they did not have enough time to get them all off, and not enough airspace

[@isiahrodriguez64]

Both the Admiral in charge of the carrier and Officer flying are major chads

[@operator0]

27 seconds in and already a major error; The aircraft wasn't civilian, it was a U.S. Air Force L-19 Bird Dog, that Major Buang had "commandeered" for his escape. The military marking are right on the side of the aircraft, for Pete's sake. The plane is an exhibit at the National Naval Air Museum at Naval Air Station, Pensacola.

[@mattwiser8406]

They didn't push the USN and AF choppers overboard: just the South Vietnamese that had already landed. His aircraft is now on display at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.

[@n3v3rforgott3n9]

technically still US helis given to the South but yea

[@vixtheflyingfox]

Everyone just commenting that they should've just flown the helicopters off xD Those are Army helicopters, not Navy helicopters, first off (camo pattern is that of land, not sea operations). A helicopter isn't a car - you don't just hop in, start it up, and get rolling. Refuel and functions checks alone can take 2-3 hours, let alone any repairs that may have needed to be done. In a matter of time sensitivity like that, it made sense to dump the helis, because (what the video doesn't tell you) is that more evacuees were inbound anyhow, and some had just arrived prior to this event. The only thing that makes this one special is that the guy landed a plane not meant for carrier landings while approaching bingo (no fuel).

[@Nathan_H1gg3rz]

ur a great american

[@ashemgold]

Great insight. Thanks...

[@tigertiger1699]

Shame I remember this as a child..., but now that I’ve found it I realise that I would have been 9, I remember it being our tv in NZ🇳🇿??, I feel like I remember the fear in the room? & my Mother crying?? I feel like I remember our Father sitting on the edge of our bed while we went to sleep?? It has been a desperate memory for me..., something that I feel like I lived, but didn’t know what it was... Tooooo much for an old heart.🌹

[@RoyalHungarianAF]

Legendary story. All the best for the Buang family and the ones who helped them aboard USS Midway.

[@ewsdneax61eaxe10]

good story, i wish there are more people like captain chambers who is willing to help!

[@carcarjinks1430]

good call. lives are more important than machines.

[@smit866]

this is a situation where life is valued more than many amount of money

[@yatharthpandey7056]

Why to throw away helicopters into sea when they could be kept in air untill the plane lands and then land back safely.

[@yatharthpandey7056]

Hubolds1 wish I was Admiral on that ship ;)

[@Nathan_H1gg3rz]

no time ninja

[@fishyfishy3140]

Yatharth Pandey no room

[@9johnpaul]

@@Nathan_H1gg3rz Well not being there, don't know, but the guy did say he could stay in the air for an hour. How much time is needed to get the copters airborne?

[@carcarjinks1430]

my guess is that there wasn't enough time to get the helos fueled, started, & launched - or to get pilots ready, with the small plane running out of fuel

[@nicklatino7157]

That is so cool. I'm very happy with this story's ending and details

[@LuckyC555]

Wow, I remember seeing this a clip as a kid of these helicopters being pushed off and asking my Father why they did that. .Thanks for posting!

[@observantmagic4156]

What did say?

[@LuckyC555]

@@observantmagic4156 he just said their wasn’t room on the ship for them. I saw it as a waste because I loved helicopters at the time. He never explained that a small aircraft with mulitiple people were trying to land.

[@MrSheckstr]

Gotta love all the self appointed 20 Star Navy commodores who think fueling up a bird (or in this case nearly a dozen) is as simple and easy as hoping in your car.

[@alanwallace7807]

My understanding that ALL birds positioned on carrier decks must be fully fuelled in order to escape any ship board fire

[@shotbytim9624]

@@alanwallace7807 Lots of those weren't the Midway's own helos, but land based craft that had just flown out from the mainland. That's precisely the reason why the deck was too crowded for normal ops.

[@blusafe1]

@@alanwallace7807 No. That mentality will probably make the fire worse with having so much fuel on deck. And where would the birds go?

[@ttran6678]

A Touching video clip and lovely hearts in this video make me cry… Thanks to the uploader and you all… lovely hearts! 05/22/2019 From Little Saigon, Garden Grove, Calif. USA.

[@rplpalacio1920]

thats awesome i never knew see real americans put people above material goods gentlemen i salute you god bless you all

[@mybad.7164]

rpl palacio this is the only time in history america ever did stuff like this i bet you

[@mikie53146]

The entire story is part of a display at the Midway Museum in San Diego. Great piece of Midway's history.

[@nubreed13]

Major buang actually gave a speech at the midway a few years ago.

[@thekansan8683]

If you would like to see that plane itself, it's at the Pensacola air museum next to the Pensacola airport.

[@TruthHurtss822]

No hesitation from the captain 👏

[@spiderliliez]

Those were actually, South Vietnamese helicopters.

[@jackhelm1537]

SPIDER LILIEZ no they weren’t

[@alanwallace7807]

Paid for by the US in any case

[@jonasphu]

My father was 7 years old in the Vietnamese War (1975) He got saved by americans.. but there wasn’t enough room for people, so they pushed a helicopter off.

[@guesswho36]

For people asking why they dumped the choppers to the ocean... 1) they need more space to fit people 2) ship would be overloaded and sink if they didn’t dumped the choppers 3) some of them are aging choppers or been somehow damaged from the wars 4) it was windy, it’s unsafe for the chopper’s crews to fly and land

[@maozedoinked8972]

yeo definitely number 4 is right

[@wecf1411]

Yep number 2 is definitely correct

[@twistedsister60]

Baby: In Danger Helicopter: Guess I'll Die

[@agentpiggles6685]

That is actually such an amazing thing to do

[@girthfrombirth4408]

Wow that is actually very wholesome

[@jordansmith3721]

1 man. 1 man or milions of dollars of machinery. I love this army.

[@frankgray5437]

It was the Navy

[@tonykerryle]

He could write in English on paper to be dropped off, but on the radio he could not speak directly in English for the captain to rescue him and his family.

[@03221955]

This is not entirely accurate. The Helos did not have the range to go anywhere else, and more kept coming. The real reason they were pushed off, was to allow our own aircraft to get to the deck and launch if necessary. We were sitting ducks without them. I was there out of Subic Bay with the USMC, MAG 15.

[@Typersx1]

Where is the family now?

[@Princeduclare]

Suckie suckie..5 dorrar

[@MannyDorito]

they made it to america

[@TavernierBound]

I grew up with the kids in Orlando, Florida

[@billsiemon3217]

He was working at Walt Disney world in the 80s with me. He told us the story every year. This is the first time I have ever see it. Very nice man

[@525Lines]

What's that black thing on top of the fuselage just behind the cockpit?

[@milesrowe2263]

Proof that America is the best dam country

[@greengiant1017]

Stupidest country only because of this move

[@jamesshaw3500]

This instance is showing that we value people over things. If they were to do this on a soviet carrier, they would be put to the firing squad.

[@manictiger]

@@jamesshaw3500 In North Korea, they'd throw them through a meat grinder and tell the crew, "meat's back on the menu, boys!"

[@anarcocapitalistadexiaomi1951]

​@@jamesshaw3500 Murica value $$petrodollars$$ over anything... America is full of propaganda ...

[@williamzhao2456]

RIP Helicopters, they served well

[@bitsnpieces11]

Crosswinds no problem, just turn the ship. They have nets to put across the deck to catch planes who are unable to catch the wires.

[@phillyspecs]

Many of the helicopters they pushed into the ocean were helicopters that the USA gave to the south vietnamese/ ARVN. When the evacuation of Saigon began many ARVN officers flew themselves and wealthy south vietnamese families with those choppers out to the aircraft carriers without approval from the US Navy.

[@30769s]

if memory serves me correct the Midway is a WW2 era carrier that was refitted for jets but even so why couldnt they have just lowered the helicopters using the elevators? It existed during WW2 unless the hangars where also filled to the brim

[@thhdhn2]

i think those planes were flew to the carrier by other south Vietnamese pilot, and just fly out from a war zone. You never know what happen to those planes.

[@blusafe1]

Sure, 1 hour is enough time to do all that.

[@taiwandxt6493]

The Hangars were filled to the brim. Just like in the Doolittle Raid with the USS Hornet. USS Midway and Ranger (I think) were used as just landing pads for the Marine Helicopters used in the evacuation. They still had their Air Wing, which was all being stored in the Hangar. And as well, getting the choppers in the air or moving all of them to the elevators would take too long.

[@calbob750]

Film footage from WW2 shows hundreds of aircraft and vehicles being disposed and not recycled at war’s end.

[@iamanempoweredone6064]

Heck, thats equal to a few cruise missles.

[@ustio834]

lol l. what makes it more ironic that in my language"buang" means dispose

[@notapplicable4567]

10mill nothing to us and that man is a real good pilot

[@holton345]

Not a Vietnamese civilian plane! LOOK AT IT! It is a US Air Force observation plane with very easy-to-see American roundels on the fuselage! Come on, guys. That is pretty ridiculous. The Major stole a USAF Cessna that was abandoned by us as we evacuated.

[@DavidBigandt]

We have our moments

[@jamesfarrell8339]

Such a iconic image from the last days of Vietnam. I always wondered why they pushed valuable helicopters off the flight deck. Thanks for posting this video and explaining why and how that happened.

[@AJdet-2]

Only South Vietnamese helicopters where's shoved overboard. These were old variant with high time on the airframe and all avionics were stripped out before they ejected them. The only valuable part of these aircraft where the fuel that was left in them

[@jamesfarrell8339]

@24kt. Wow I didn't know that Thanks for posting

[@jeca3865]

It take 10 years to the north vietnamese to defeat the americans but 20 years after the fall of saigon they realized they need the help of americans to develop their war torn economy

[@ReinRaus]

Why not to fly the helicopters instead of pushing them? - No fuel?

[@vrxay1731]

First-100th comment Second-I heard 10 million worth of helicopters and thought: sooooooo..... like one helicopter was pushed

[@laurendoe168]

TBH... so did I. :D

[@speedtwin5t]

After wasting billions of dollars and countless lives in a pointless war what's another 10 million !

[@liamkeane9159]

Is the family in America,

[@Zenigotcha]

Anyone want to salvage some sunken Vietnam War era helicopters and restore them to working condition?

[@laurendoe168]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were salvaged for the scrap metal value.

[@aaronfavre6863]

Wow some people can barely drive a car

[@DanielDani-zm7yo]

Esto si que es informacion real de vietnam

[@troublemaker8130]

Why didn’t they like just fly all the helicopters for like a bit to make space, then pushed the airplane off after?

[@awaspthatswatchingyou4559]

Why not just fly them above the the carrier, have him land it and then put the helis back

[@ranazaeem5484]

Gr8 show of humanity .....But .... M thinking.....why capt of the ship didn't asked the Helicopters to go and remain airborne for 10~15 minutes and after aircraft landing...all the choppers could have returned safely..

[@marcod.beltijar2189]

wow nice 10million dollars worth of helicopters now that 10million dollars is just a maintanance cost of US helicopter! 😇

[@baconatoromg6062]

New helicopters are also 10 times better

[@ZENbulldozer]

ABSOLUTE CHAD.

[@LoydAvenheart]

Fuck it, we are America we have like a million more of these.

[@mmabagain]

Wonder if Russia or China would have done the same for an ally? Maybe they have.

[@audioramplify]

Why would they push it instead of fly it away

[@captainhonan]

So why didn’t the captain order the helicopters just to go up in the air until the guy landed and then bring however, many back down that would fit I have no clue why he just threw all those overboard. He could easily just send them up in the air unbelievable can someone please explain to me if I’m wrong on this or what thank you

[@lost7g636]

Get those helicopters on the air, let the plane land and then throw the plane overboard, land those helicopters again and the pilot said he has 1 hour and that's a lot of time, just forget it, this happened a long time ago

[@nubreed13]

Those were south vietnamese helicopters. The war was basically over by this point. It was either dump those helicopters or let hundreds of refugees be executed if we left them behind. This wasnt the only ship dumping helicopters either

[@charlesbrewer6552]

For those of you that do not know, America lost the Vietnam War. This was part of a paniced evacuation as the North Vietnamese over-ran the American Embassy and bases. These are not Navy helicopters, they are Army helicoptors. They were arriving (along with the light plane shown) at a rapid rate. There was no room on the flight deck or the rest of the ship for them, so they were dumped as part of a dramatic un-planned evacuation. They were dumped to make room so more American helicopters could arrive as well as this aircraft. There is a considerable amount of propoganda content shown in this video. It shows the "kind humanitarian" American's sacrificing millions of dollars of equipment to save the life of one vietnamese family. No doubt they did. But there was more to this story which showed a defeat of American forces in Vietnam and their chaotic evactuation. A dramatic event showing the total failure of America in Vietnam.

[@Cartmanfan99]

Charles Brewer America didn't lose any war, they forced the Vietcong to sign a treaty and when the north broke the treaty the democrat senate didn't vote to save Vietnam American forces were never overrun, any forces still in south Vietnam was truly training forces at the time of the fall of Saigon no American forces were stationed to stop the advance of north Vietnamese forces only to evacuate any political figures that were friendly to America and any consulate employees still in the country, If America was truly there to stop the advance it would have been a totally different situation

[@charlesbrewer6552]

EjamGaming MC Your revisionist view of history is amazing! How poorly educated you are. "America.....forced the Vietcong to sign a treaty..." ? What bullshit. America did not FORCE any treaty. They desperatly sort a treaty to save face during a withdrawl. I lived through this. I was called up to fight in Vietnam. Australia withdrew troops before I was sent. America went from 500,000 odd thousand troops in the field to a complete withdrawl, finalised by the panicked evacuation and over-running of the embassy, as depicted in this film. America did not win the Vietnam war. America could not suceed with it's aims. America LOST the Vietnam war.

[@blazzing_fury2425]

Charles Brewer Neither of you are entirely off. We won militaristically but lost politically. The North Vietnamese were continually taking heavy losses from American attacks. On the flip side moral was at a low due to the unfamiliar and hostile fighting conditions as well as a severe lack of support for the war back home. The military absolutely could have continued fending off the North and by no means were being pushed back. In fact, many times it was the US who was able to push the North Vietnamese back but could not pursue them into many of the countries they flees to such as Laos (from which they just came back to continue the fight). Think of the US as being the Germans during WW2 and the Soviets being the North Vietnamese but this time, the Germans were able to contain the hoards to Soviet soldiers thrown at them. You can't continually sustain heavy losses and still manage to win the war (continually in the sense of there is no change and you're numbers are drastically being cut each fight). If the war had stretched on the North either would've had to come up with a new tactic or go on the defensive. And considering the fight did end in a mutual treaty, I'm not sure it's technically a loss (though I think everyone knew the treaty wouldn't hold up).

[@shotbytim9624]

The US didn't lose the war. We quit before it was over. The last two years were fought without us. The reason we got in was simple. We were obligated to by a treaty. The more complicated question is why were we, a North American country, a member of SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization)?

[@Artem-py2sj]

Of course the US lost the war they couldn't stop the vietcon which their leader knew before the war but still sent their young people to a hopeless war shame its sad people still defend it even though we know now that vietnam turned out fine

[@lokesh303101]

Very moving to throw helicopters into the Sea just to save a Major.

[@bishopleo1654]

7lifes wow 10million is nothing

[@ashemgold]

Legend has it Major Boorang is still the last one to fly his plane onto a carrier every time the US is defeated in a conflict to this day.

[@km-jk3re]

why wont heli beup in the air for a while?

[@paschoaldefelippo3310]

Porque simplesmente não decolaram com os helicopteros e depois voltaram com eles???

[@guesswho36]

I was just surprised they didn’t shot down that plane as it was Unidentified plane approaching a military ship, even it dropped something

[@frankgray5437]

Oh Please . . . . . . . . . . . .

[@brandondenver4331]

To be honest, the deck could still accommodate the General's landing WITH the helicopters. This war was silly to begin with, so I am very cynical when assessing events which concern it.

[@stevenmorley1639]

That Guy by then was passed his sell by date . Should of saved the Helicopters. He had an hour left of fuel .fly back to the Mainland and good luck Pal......

[@user-cu9cr5bi5m]

นายแน่มาก อเมริกัน ใจเต็ม100%

[@bigbang7897]

Could the helicopters not have taken off to allow the plane to land then dump the cheap plane overboard and the helicopters then land back on the carrier DOH.

[@vivekt.2038]

This is America ! .

[@rafaeltinajero]

America

[@rickoshea6899]

ships move faster with less weight

[@chloehennessey6813]

Don’t see why you didn’t just man those helos with pilots and fly them off the deck and land after he did

[@shotbytim9624]

No time to refuel

[@beformidable12]

have u consider these factors? 1. time to refuel 2. time to engine check 3. for how long does the helo need to be flying since there are still more refugee coming

[@antcri730]

Who got the statement of charges for the choppers?

[@mevineven869]

They could simply put 10 helicopters airborne foolish captain ever

[@timothynguyen404]

😍

[@jcjcjunk1881]

Be funny if they said your paying for that equipment

[@rock3tcatU233]

I once landed a 737 on a carrier. In FSX.

[@TylerLL2112]

Steam edition boiiii. Slew mode?

[@TwoWheelWarrior]

His wife is gorgeous...

[@deadlygeneral6798]

I think the guy who ordered his men to push the helicopters off the ship wasn't thinking right

[@kianobrien3729]

Here’s a good idea. Get the heli’s into the air, land the plane, push the plane off the deck, and then land the helicopters. I don’t know but sounds better than getting rid of helicopters

[@shotbytim9624]

No time to refuel them, They had just flown in from the mainland

[@A3Kr0n]

Really? Why didn't they just fly the helicopters around for a few minutes until he landed? There was a cross wind? If they could push $10 million in helicopters off the deck, couldn't they also turn the deck into the wind? Lastly, I heard they pushed helicopters off the deck to make room for more because there were so many people escaping they ran out of room.

[@paulchappell9606]

A3Kr0n the documentary I’ve just watched says the most of the inbound choppers were ARVN troops/ crew/ family that we’re really the last to find out about operation frequent wind. So the decks became blocked, so they just pushed them over the side, very sad in my eyes as they were all sorts of choppers in working order. The Huey was a special favourite of mine.

[@shotbytim9624]

No time to refuel them, They had just flown in from the mainland. In other accounts of the landing, the Captain did turn the ship into the wind and got 25 knots out of the engines. Cut the plane's landing roll nearly in half.

[@kitkobi]

Was it, worth it for that non-american???

[@TylerLL2112]

Yes. IIRC they became American.

[@jonnajohnsons2684]

Question why does the US love wasting money

[@retrorockdriquesrock9638]

❤❤❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸❤❤❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸❤❤❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@mig4066]

So long since saw shit

[@IC7oaN]

Couldn't they have just flown the helis out of the way and then land after Buang landed?

[@NoovGuyMC]

Keyword: last minute evacuation The possible of "why" -1 hour duration -no time to refuel -because helis were out of fuel -not enough airspace

[@salehfarman3879]

in the 1st place why would they event get involved and after more than 50,000 death????

[@jwong3347]

10 million dollar in 75 is worth with 65 million dollar today