新山一空軍基地
越南共和國（南越）空軍使用情形 > 新山一空軍基地失守

1975年年初，北越人民軍發起了1975年春季攻勢，意在盡快地統一南越。在一系列進攻後，南越總統阮文紹就宣布放棄了越南中央高地和北方的兩個省份。到了30月底時，峴港、歸仁和芽莊都已經失守了，大規模的逃難潮開始南下，整個共和國陷入紊亂的局面。
As the war in South Vietnam entered its conclusion, the pilots of the VNAF flew sortie after sortie, supporting the retreating South Vietnamese Army after it abandoned Cam Ranh Bay on 14 April. For two days after the ARVN left the area, the Wing Commander at Phan Rang Air Base fought on with the forces under his command. Airborne troops were sent in for one last attempt to hold the airfield, but the defenders were finally overrun on 16 April and Phan Rang Air Base was lost.
The last of the 2d Air Division abandoned the airfield with the remaining flyable airplanes, leaving four A C-119s which had flown in from Da Nang and two A-37s to the North Vietnamese.
On 22 April Xuan Loc fell to the communists after a two-week battle with South Vietnam's 18th Army Division which inflicted over 5,000 NVA casualties and delayed the Ho Chi Minh Campaign for two weeks. With the fall of Xuan Loc and the capture of Bien Hoa Air Base in late April 1975 it was clear that South Vietnam was about to fall to the North Vietnamese Army.
At dusk on 28 April, three captured A-37s, flown from the former VNAF Phan Rang Air Base bombed Tan Son Nhut destroying a number of aircraft on the flight line. There are conflicting stories about who was actually flying these aircraft. One source insists they were VNAF pilots who were communists, another says they were VNAF pilots who were forced to fly the mission in return for the safety of their families, and NVA General Van Tien Dung claimed the A-37s were flown by North Vietnamese Air Force pilots.
Whatever the case, the A-37s escaped. despite being pursued by several VNAF F-5s. Although the physical damage to Ton Son Nhut was not extensive, the threat of further air strikes eliminated Tan Son Nhut AB for fixed-wing evacuation flights, further lowering what little morale remained in the capital.
Saigon was now surrounded by thirteen NVA divisions and most Vietnamese realized it was only a matter of time until the entire country was in communist hands. On 29 April President Gerald Ford ordered Operation Frequent Wind, the helicopter evacuation of Saigon.
Vietnamese pilots now began flying themselves and their families out of the country in anything that could get off the ground. Some headed for the American rescue fleet just off the coast, while others flew to Thailand.
On 30 April the last desperate combat sorties flown by the VNAF were carried out in defense of Tan Son Nhut. An AC-119 Shadow gunship, which had spent the night defending the base perimeter, landed for fuel and ammunition. After refueling and rearming, the Shadow took off again. The gunship orbited the air base firing on advancing NVA troops and was soon joined by a pair of A-1s. The Skyraiders made repeated runs over NVA positions until NVA gunners downed one with a SA-7. The second A-1 pilot continued his attacks until his fuel and ordnance were used up. All the while, the AC-119 kept its fire directed on advancing enemy forces.
About 7:00 AM the Shadow was hit by an SA-7 and fell in flames. Three crewmen managed to bail out, but one chute became entangled in the debris and the airman killed.
In the final evacuation, over a hundred VNAF aircraft arrived in Thailand, including twenty-six F-5s, eight A-37s. eleven A-1s, six C-130s. thirteen C-47s, five C-7s, and three AC-119s. Additionally close to 100 VNAF helicopters landed on U.S. ships off the coast, although at least half were jettisoned. One O-1 managed to land on the USS Midway CV-41, carrying a South Vietnamese major, his wife, and five children. On 30 April 1975, Saigon fell and all remaining South Vietnamese forces were ordered to surrender.
For the VNAF thirty-five long years of war had come to an end. Following the war, Tan Son Nhut Air Base was taken over as a base for the Vietnam People's Air Force.