Vwegba Blogging World

My dad worked on a helicopter assault ship (like and aircraft carrier, but just for helicopters) and he was there during the pull out.  His ship had many passengers during the evacuation and saw many of these ditchings.  It was very risky for the pilots because if they didn't do it right, the helicopter could drown them with down force from the rotor wash or get killed by the rotors (he saw both happen).  So they bank the helicopters, like in the pics, and then bail, so they would have a better chance of separating from the helicopter. I think the height is  a bit deceiving. and they didn't have parachutes. There were typically boats in the water circling to pick up people and pilots.  Pretty ballsy on all accounts. South Vietnam Air Force pilot jumps from his Huey after dropping evacuees on USS Midway (1975) After dropping off evacuees on USS Midway, a south Vietnamese pilot bails out of his Huey and into the water, 1975 Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacu