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On 4 April 1975,〔 a Lockheed C-5A Galaxy participating in Operation Babylift crashed on approach during an emergency landing at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. The cause was ascribed to loss of flight control due to explosive decompression and structural failure. The accident marked the second operational loss and first fatal crash for the C-5 Galaxy fleet, and is the deadliest accident involving a U.S. military aircraft; it would also "stand as the single largest loss of life" in DIA's history until the September 11 attacks because among the crash fatalities were five female DIA employees.〔.〕 ==Description== Early in April 1975 with much of South Vietnam overrun by North Vietnamese forces, the administration of US President Gerald Ford began instituting the evacuation of American citizens. To avoid alarming the host country, U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin authorized Americans to be flown out under several pretexts, one of which was Operation Babylift, in which American caregivers were paired with South Vietnamese orphans, most fathered by American servicemembers.〔''Nixon, Ford, and the Abandonment of South Vietnam'', J. Edward Lee and Toby Haynsworth, McFarland and Company, ISBN 0-7864-1302-6, 2002.〕 On the afternoon of Friday, 4 April 1975, C-5 68-0218, making the first flight of Operation Babylift, departed Tan Son Nhat Air Base for Clark Air Base in the Philippines. There, this first group of orphans were to transfer to charter flights and be welcomed by President Ford upon arriving in the United States at San Diego, California. At 4:15 p.m. the C-5A was over the South China Sea about off Vũng Tàu,〔 South Vietnam, flying a heading of 136 degrees and climbing to an altitude of . At that moment the locks on the rear loading ramp failed, causing the cargo door to open explosively. This caused explosive decompression, temporarily filling the cabin with a whirlwind of fog and debris. The blowout severed control cables to the tail, causing two of four hydraulic systems to fail, including those for the rudder and elevator,〔 and leaving the flight control with only the use of one aileron, spoilers, and power. The pilot, Captain Dennis "Bud" Traynor, and copilot, Captain Tilford Harp, attempted to regain control of the airplane, and to perform a 180 degree turn in order to return to Tan Son Nhat.〔(Valor: A Galaxy of Heroes ), Air Force Magazine, August 1991.〕 The aircraft began to exhibit phugoid oscillations, but the crew countered them and maintained a controlled descent of about . They were able to bring the plane to and begin the approach to Tan Son Nhat's runway 25L. While turning on final approach, the plane's descent rate suddenly began to increase rapidly. The crew increased power to the engines in an attempt to arrest the descent, but despite their efforts, the plane touched down at 4:45 p.m. in a rice paddy, and skidded for a quarter of a mile (400 m), became airborne again for another half-mile (800 m), crossing the Saigon River, then hit a dike and broke up into four pieces. The fuel caught fire and some of the wreckage was set ablaze. Survivors struggled to extricate themselves from the wreckage. The crash site was in a muddy rice paddy near the Saigon River, one mile (1.6 km) from the nearest road. Fire engines could not reach the site, and helicopters had to set down some distance from the wreckage. About 100 South Vietnamese soldiers deployed around the site, which was near the site of an engagement with the Viet Cong the previous night. Out of 313 people on board, the death toll included 78 children, 35 Defence Attaché Office employees and 11 U.S. Air Force personnel; there were 175 survivors. All of the surviving orphans were eventually flown to the United States. The dead orphans were cremated and were interred at the cemetery of the St. Nikolaus Catholic Church in Pattaya, Thailand.〔Commander in Chief Pacific Command History: Appendix III: Babylift, Carl O. Clever, CINCPAC Hawaii, 1976. The Vietnam Center and Archive, Item 2132501008, accessed 28 March 2010.〕 Some members of the United States Congress called for a grounding of C-5s. In the end, the fleet was put under severe operational restrictions for several months while the cause was established. The U.S. Air Force Accident Investigation Board attributed the survival of any on board to Captain Traynors unorthodox use of power and his decision to crash-land while the aircraft allowed some control. Captains Traynor and Harp were awarded the Air Force Cross for extraordinary valor.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Dennis W Traynor Air Force Cross )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tilford W Harp Air Force Cross )〕 Thirty-seven medals were awarded to crew members or their next of kin. Flight nurse Regina Aune received the Cheney Award for 1975.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Colonel Regina Aune )〕 In June 1975, a sister of a woman who died in the crash filed a US$200 million class action lawsuit against the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, charging negligence. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1975 Tan Son Nhut C-5 accident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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