Integrity, Honor, and Respect
Some of the best things cannot be bought, they must be earned
©2023 USAF Rotorheads All Rights Reserved | Financial Statement
This website is dedicated to all veterans and active duty of the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard helicopter groundcrew and aircrew, and the helicopters they flew and maintained.
Raymond C. Gottfried, Captain, USAF (Fallen)
1923 – November 17, 1953
YH-21 #50-1240
Thule AB, Greenland
17 November 1953
Santa Cruz Sentinel (Santa Cruz, CA),
Thu, Nov 19, 1953
Four Airmen Die in Greenland
Helicopter Crash
Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (AP) The air proving ground command reported yesterday a late-type Arctic rescue helicopter crashed Tuesday in Greenland, killing its four-man crew. The plane, the YH-21 made by Piasecki, was in the last stages of operational durability test, when it crashed at Thule Air Force Base. Details of the crash were not available here. Two of the crew men killed were based at Eglin Air Force Base. They were identified as Capt. Raymond C. Gottfried, 30, Brooklyn, N.Y., and TSgt. Clay H. Danner, 36, Valle Crucis, NC. The other victims were Capt. Edward E. Burkes and SSgt. Philip E. Moore, stationed at Thule AB with the 55th ARS. Their home towns were not available here. The helicopter was one of two which left Eglin AFB August 17 for test under Arctic conditions.
Eye-witnesses said the helicopter had trouble with one rotor and crashed directly on the Thule airfield.
©2023 USAF Rotorheads All Rights Reserved | Financial Statement