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Blackledge, David Carl, Capt.
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Contact Info
Last Address Cannon AFB, New Mexico Cresskill, New Jersey
On March 20, 1973, while on a night training mission, two F-111Ds assigned to the 27th TFW
collided during a night formation rejoin. The accident occured near Holbrook Arizona. The
aircraft involved were F-111D (s/n 68-0105), crewed by Maj. Richard Brehm and Maj. William
Halloran, and F-111D s/n 68-0158 crewed by Maj. William Gude and Capt. David Blackledge.
In the collision, 68-0105's wingtip hit 68-0158's left side near the cockpit. The force of the
impact caused the capsule of 68-0158 to eject; 68-0105 then ejected. The rocket motor from
one capsule burned the main parachute of the other. Neither capsule landed safely and the
crews of both aircraft were killed.
F-111D (s/n 68-0105) had accumulated 53 flights and 142.7 flight hours at the time of the crash.
Crew:
MAJ Richard L. Brehm
MAJ William T. Halloran
F-111D (s/n 68-0158) had accumulated 24 flights and 68.1 flight hours.
Crew:
MAJ William W. Gude
CAPT David C. Blackledge
Other Comments:
Date: 20-MAR-1973
Time: 21:21 MST
Type: General Dynamics F-111D
Owner/operator: 27th TFW, USAF
Registration: 68-0158 C/n / msn: A6-74
Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 /
Occupants: 2
Other fatalities: 2
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: 1 mile N of Holbrook, Arizona - United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature: Military
Departure airport: Cannon AFB, NM
Destination airport:
Narrative:
On March 20, 1973, while on a night training mission, two F-111Ds assigned to the 27th TFW collided during a night formation rejoin. The accident occured near Holbrook, Arizona. The aircraft involved were F-111D s/n 68-0105, crewed by Maj. Richard Brehm and Maj. William Halloran, and F-111D s/n 68-0158 crewed by Maj. William Gude and Capt. David Blackledge.
In the collision, 68-0105's wingtip hit 68-0158's left side near the cockpit. The force of the impact caused the capsule of 68-0158 to eject; 68-0105 then ejected. The rocket motor from one capsule burned the main parachute of the other. Neither capsule landed safely and the crews of both aircraft were killed. F-111D s/n 68-0158 had accumulated 24 flights and 68.1 flight hours.
Source: aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php
Vietnam War/Cease-Fire Campaign (1972-73)
From Month/Year
March / 1972
To Month/Year
January / 1973
Description
0n March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong opened a 3-pronged offensive, with the intention of defeating the Republic of Vietnam and reuniting Vietnam under a Communist regime, in a conventional attack supported with artillery and tarnks, the North Vietnamese crossed the DMZ into Quang Tri Province, occupying Quang Tri, the provincial capital, on May 1 and attacking Hue. In a second thrust, the Communists invaded the Central Highlands from Laos, isolating Kontum and cutting the highway between Pleiku and Qui Nhon. On April 5 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces crossed the border from Cambodia in the third phase of the offensive, capturing Loc Ninh on April 6 and besieging An Loc. By May 8, however, the enemy offensive had stalled; on June 10 the Communists withdrew from Kontum and on the 26th from An Loc. Two days later the Nonh Vietnamese retreated from Quang Tri, and on June 30 the South Vietnamese reopened the road to Pleiku.
U.S. air power contributed significantly to the battle. Although the USAF had reduced its forces in Southeast Asia to half of those present in mid-1968, it moved quickly to augment them. U.S. Navy. Marine. and Army aviation elements joined the USAF to provide airlift. interdiction. tactical reconnaissance, and close air support for the South Vietnamese. A week after the Communist offensive began. on April 6. the United States resumed systematic, sustained bombing of military and industrial targets in North Vietnam as far north as the 20th parallel. The next day Gen. John W. Vogt. Jr., USAF, became the Seventh Air Force Commander. On May 4 South Vietnamese and U.S. leaders suspended peace negotiations in Paris, and 4 days later, the United States imposed a naval blockade of North Vietnam, mining harbors at Haiphong, Vinh, and elsewhere along the coast. The United States also initiated LINEBACKER on May 8 - 1 of the largest air campaigns of the war. Targets included the rebuilt Paul Dourner Bridge in Hanoi, the Thanh Hoa Bridge, rail lines, a petroleum pipeline from China to Hanoi. power plants. marshaling yards, and other strategic and tactical objectives throughout North Vietnam. During Linebacker, on June 28. Gen. Frederick C. Weyand. USA, became the Commander of MACV.
Peace negotiations, suspended for two weeks, resurned in Paris on July 13, Anticipating a successful conclusion to the renewed peace talks. the United States halted the bombing of North Vietnsn above the 20th parallel as of October 23. But when negotiations stalled, the United States conducted an intensive aerial offensive, LINEBACKER ll, from December 18 to 30, against North Vietnam. B-52s and USAF and Navy tactical aircraft bombed Hanoi and Haiphong and their environs around the clock, concentrating on such targets as railyards, power plants, communication facilities, air defense radars, SAM and antiaircraft gun sites, petroleum tank farms, shipping facilities, ammunition dumps, and
MiG bases. On December 30, after peace talks resumed, the United States again ceased bombing north of the 20th parallel.
On January 23, 1973, North Vietnam and the United States agreed to a cease-fire, effective within 5 days. Part of the agreement called for the
North Vietnamese to release prisoners of war while the United States withdrew completely from South Vietnam. From February 12 to March 29, following the Vietnam Ceasefire, North Vietnam released 565 American POWs. ln OPERATION HOMECOMING, the 9th Aeromedical
Evacuation Group flew the POWs from Hanoi to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
After the Vietnam Ceasefire Campaign, the Royal Laotian government signed a cease-fire agreement with the Pathet Lao on February 21, 1973.
USAF B-52s. nevertheless, flew missions against Communist forces in Cambodia until August 15, 1973, when the U.S. Congress mandated an
end to U.S. bombing in Southeast Asia.
The fighting had ended for American forces, but the Communists, resupplied and reequipped, soon escalated the ground war throughout
Southeast Asia. Within 2 years, on April 17. 1975. the Khmer Rougeoccupied all of Cambodia. On April 30 North Vietnam conquered South
Vietnam and unified the country. And on December 3, 1975, the Pathet Lao seized power in Laos, marking an end to an era of U.S. influence
in Southeast Asia.
