Nha Trang – Cheo Reo – Pleiku

On August 17, 1967 at 12:00 AM, Nha Trang – Cheo Reo – Pleiku experienced a crash involving De Havilland DHC-3 Otter, operated by United States Army, with the event recorded near Pleiku Gia Lai Province.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a mountains crash site.

4 people were known to be on board, 4 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. While approaching Pleiku, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with low clouds and rain showers. While approaching the airport from the south, the pilot failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck trees and crashed in flames in a dense wooded area located on Mt Dragon, about 13 km south of Pleiku Airport. SAR operations were conducted but the wreckage was spotted on September 7 only. All four occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration 58-1702, MSN 318, year of manufacture 1959.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 13.9860°, 108.0074°.