(Steven Trichard) At the end of the vietnam war On 29 April 1975, the Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon was in a state of chaos, over 100 aircraft were destroyed and burning on its flight line.
In a very panicked state, hundreds of people were rushing to get on board the very last flyable C-130.
People crowded into the aircraft. The loadmaster informed the pilot, Major Phuong, that he could not close the ramp because of the number of people standing on it. Major Phuong taxied forward and braked sharply. People tumbled forward, clearing the ramp.
452 people were on board, including an almost unbelievable 32 in the cockpit. The aircraft required every bit of the runway and overrun before it was able to get airborne.
Without a map, the crew got lost. A C-7 Caribou pilot, realising the flight is taking too long, fought his way through the crowd into the cockpit with a map. They landed in Thailand three and a half hours later in what should have been a ninety-minute flight.
The C-130A Hercules, tail number 56-0518, was the 126th built by Lockheed. It was accepted into the USAF inventory on 23 August 1957. A few years later, it was handed over to the South Vietnamese Air Force as part of the Military Assistance Program and returned to the USAF after the epic flight.
0518 is now guarding the main entrance to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.
A C-130 is designed to carry 92 troops.
