Bien Hoa Air Base Vietnam May 16 1965 Conflagration / Fire

As far as I know this is the first time this video has been made readily available to the GP when I posted this on Youtube. ;)

This was one of the largest base fires in the US History. It would have been much larger if emergency crews didn't respond so fast.

As far as I know this is the first time this video has been made readily available to the GP when I posted this on Youtube. ;)Fire at Bien Hoa Air Base Vietnam May 16, 1965, explosions and cleanup (FOD patrol).

This was mishap was investigated and determined to be accidental

"Large numbers of USAF strike aircraft were sent to bases where pavement for aircraft parking was at a premium. Aircraft were parked wing tip to wing tip, vulnerable to an accidental explosion or enemy attack. A need for aircraft revetments was dramatically brought home on 16 May 1965 when the explosion of a bomb under the wing of a loaded B-57 aircraft set off a chain reaction of explosions on the parking apron at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam. Forty aircraft were destroyed, 26 Americans killed, and over 60 wounded."
http://www.vspa.com/bien-hoa-godfrey-...

"On May 16, 1965, while waiting to takeoff on a mission, a B-57B exploded on the ground at Bien Hoa, setting off a whole chain of secondary explosions. The resulting conflagration destroyed ten B-57s, eleven VNAF A-1H Skyraiders, and a US Navy F-8 Crusader. The surviving B-57s were transferred to Tan Son Nhut and continued to fly sorties on a reduced scale until the losses could be made good. Some B-57Bs had to be transferred to Vietnam from the Air National Guard, and 12 B-57Es had to be withdrawn from target-towing duties and reconfigured as bombers to make good these losses."

http://kalaniosullivan.com/KunsanAB/O...