1975 Tan Son Nhut C - 5 accident The Tan Son Nhut C - 5 accident refers to the 4 April 1975 crash of Lockheed C - 5A Galaxy serial number " 68 - 0218 " participating in Operation Babylift . The C - 5 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 . It is also the deadliest accident involving a U . S . military aircraft . Description . Early in April 1975 with much of South Vietnam overrun by North Vietnam ese 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 . On the afternoon of Friday , 4 April 1975 , C - 5 68 - 0218 , making the first flight of Operation Babylift , departed Tan Son Nhut 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 Nhut . 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 Nhut ' s runway 25L . While turning on final approach , the crew increased power to arrest a rapidly increasing descent rate . The plane touched down at 4 : 45 p . m . in a rice paddy , and skidded for a quarter of a mile ( 400 m ) , went airborne 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 are reported to be interred at a Catholic cemetery in Pattaya , Thailand . 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 . Thirty - seven medals were awarded to crew members or their next of kin . Flight nurse Regina Aune received the Cheney Award for 1975 . 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 . Investigation . Given the explosive manner in which the rear doors failed , sabotage was initially suspected . Many of the components were looted from the crash site , thereby complicating the investigation ; the U . S . Air Force paid a bounty for parts from the wreckage to recover them from the local populace . The United States Navy amphibious cargo ship , frigate , and command ship were assigned to search for the flight data recorder in the South China Sea . The recorder was found , and U . S . Navy ships and helicopters also discovered wreckage from the doors in the South China Sea as well as the body of a C - 5 crewmember . When the rear doors were eventually recovered from the sea , investigation determined that some of the locks had not engaged properly . Maintenance records showed that locks had been cannibalized for spares , then subsequently improperly refitted so that not all the door locks were engaging correctly . Furthermore , the flight crew confirmed that they had had difficulty closing the doors before take - off . As differential air pressure increased with altitude , the few locks that were working correctly were unable to bear the load , and the door failed . Dramatization . The story of the disaster was featured on the seventh season of the Canadian National Geographic Channel show " Mayday " ( known as " Air Emergency " in the United States , " Mayday " in Canada and " Air Crash Investigation " in Asia , Australia , the United Kingdom and Ireland . The episode is entitled " Operation Babylift . "