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Commentary moved from the article: AKRadeckiSpeaketh 15:05, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
Added July 7, 2007. Here are a few corrections and additional notes. The airfield at Marble Mountain was not dirt, as reported, but was paved. It was shared not only by Marine and Army helicopter units, but also with an Army OV-1 Mohawk unit, the 245th Aviation Company. I was a pilot in that organization and arrived in September, 1969. There were pictures of that DC8, on that runway, in our operations center. The landing is legitimately called a "legendary" incident because of the near impossibility of the landing. Approaching from the north, the pilots had to fly over Monkey mountain, which was a formidable barrier that had to cause lots of excitement in the cockpit as the pilots tried to bleed off both airspeed and altitude in a very short time in order to land on an extremely short runway. Had they flown from the south, they'd have overflown Marble Mountain, much smaller, but much closer to the runway, also challenging from a pilot perspective. It's difficult to appreciate how small that runway was, but the pictures showed the aircraft's wheels hanging over both sides of the runway; and 1400 feet looks incredibly small from the air, particularly compared to the nearly two mile long, parallel runways at Danang AFB, just a couple of miles to the west. It was difficult to imagine how two pilots could have mistaken the two landing strips, but it was especially difficult to understand how that huge plane could have been successfully landed at Marble Mountain. I do not believe there will be any available corroboration except for accounts such as this one, unless eyewitnesses come forward. It is unlikely the pilots will tell their story lest someone is still trying to decide whether to charge them with reckless disregard and dereliction of duty for landing on the wrong airfield, or reward them for doing what would have seemed impossible had it been planned.
Since this observer arrived at the scene months after the incident, it would help if witnesses who saw the aircraft on the runway and who may be among future visitors to this page would come forward to tell or refine the story. There won't be any newspaper or magazine references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Raudibert (talk • contribs)
- Here is a first hand account of a witness who was there when this event took place:
- I, L.W. MacKinnon, service # 2251358, saw the DC-8 parked on the runway the morning after it landed. I was walking from my hooch #402 on the east perimeter road to the avionics shop of H&MS-16, MAG-16, Marble Moutain Air Facility. A corporal in the Marine Corps, I arrived by plane at Da Nang air base(the correct desination) on January 2, 1968 and extented my tour, leaving in September of 1969.
- Because our Marine Air Group was comprised mostly of heliocopter squadrons, and our proximity to a fair amount "hostile" territory, we were a favorite target of 122 & 140 mm rocket attacks. Seeing that big jet there must have made "Charlie" drool. That is why a tractor from Da Nang air field was hustled up to our base to start the DC-8 up for it's short run take off.
- I think every person at MMAF saw the plane take off. I know most of my squadron went over to the mess hall to get a front row seat, as it bordered the middle of the runway. None of us were certain the plane would clear the runway before it got in the air. It did, but just barely, kicking up a lot of dust as it easily cleared Marble Mountian.
- And that's enough for now. You have your 1st hand account, and I a passionate dislike for typing.
- Later,
- Mac Marine —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.32.145 (talk • contribs)
