Between January 1966 and May 1971, the 50th TAS operated from Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan (CCK) part of the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing , 315thAir Division) to provide passenger and cargo airlift throughout the Far East and combat airlift in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. When the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing returned to the US in May 1971, the 50th TAS was reassigned to the 374 TAW at CCK, Taiwan. On 15 August 1973, the 50th TAS also returned to the United States to Little Rock AFB and once again became part of the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing. During the Saigon Evacuation, it was again briefly sent back overseas to Clark AB, PI where it was assigned to the 374 TAS between 28 April to 6 June 1975.
While the 50th TAS was not part of the 374th TAW very long after 1973, it did have a profound effect on 374th TAW operations. On a Sunday, December 9, 1972 a C-130E,64-0505, of the 50th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, crashed and burned while practicing landings at NAS Agana, Guam. Many rumors surrounded the circumstances of the crash.
The crew were on a TDY to Agana NAS to conduct the “Micronesia Run”. At the time, the Micronesia Run was flown every 6 weeks, and lasted 10-14 days. A C-130 was assigned from either the PI or Taiwan units to haul beer, soda, food, building supplies and equipment to remote US Navy Sea Bee teams as well as Coast Guard LORAN stations. Crew schedulers also used such missions to obtain experience for high time copilots who would also receive upgrade training for aircraft commander.
On the day of the crash, the crew had a day off and the aircraft commander decided to fly a pilot proficiency flight for his two high time copilots. The crew’s navigator and loadmaster had decided not to fly the mission, which is not abnormal. The problem was that they invited a Pan Am stewardess and two US Army officers along for the flight. A simulated engine-out (power reduced ) approach was flown with a touch and go (T&G) planned. All throttles were advanced for the T&G but one engine possibly lost power and the aircraft veered off runway and the wing tip made ground contact, spinning the plane further out of control. It burned with the loss of life of most of the crew. The two US Army officers were the only survivors.
As it would happen, the Pan Am stewardess was the daughter of a US Congressman. And heads rolled. The lasting effect for the rest of the wing was the strict command and control procedures levied on all 374 TAW flights. Before you departed on a mission, the aircraft commander had to call the Pacific ALCC, then located at Clark AB, PI, to obtain permission to takeoff. For austere locations in Thailand, Korea, and islands of the Pacific, where there no land lines, this entailed the crew contacting one of the USAF Airway units on HF radio to get a phone patch to Clark. So, sometimes you would spend a long time just trying to get through to obtain command takeoff clearance. I believe this practice finally went by the way side sometime in late 1975.