YK-21 departed Marble Mountain at 0755 on 27 August 1969 piloted by Maj. Anthony T. "Tim" Common as section leader of two CH-46 transport helicopters assigned the mission of supporting the 1st Marine Division.

Throughout the day they carried a total of 133 Marines from LZs Baldy, West and Ross to varied locations in the extreme southern sector of the Area of Operations.  The last load of seventeen combat troops were embarked at LZ West, destined for AT968270 which was located a mere 1,000 meters south of LZ West.

Approaching the area Maj. Common received a zone brief indicating the wind was from the west, zone was secure, area had numerous rice paddies, tall elephant grass and a recommendation that he approach from the east.  As he rolled YK-21 out on final, the afternoon sun was low in the sky and shining through his wiper scratched windscreen making it very difficult to see the LZ clearly.  He stepped hard on the left rudder, yawing the aircraft left, so he could see out his side window.  Both the crew chief and gunner were observing the approach and looking for possible trip wires or other obstructions in the LZ that might be hidden by the tall elephant grass.  The landing was uneventful, the seventeen combat troops departed the aircraft.  Cpl. Bandish keyed his intercom saying, "Ramp Up" indicating he was ready to depart the zone.

Maj. Common lifted, found the sun again an impairment to seeing where he was going, and again stepped on the left rudder to yaw the aircraft to the left.  Airspeed had accelerated to about 20 kts when all felt a mild thump.  Cpl. Bandish again keyed his intercom and in a matter of fact droll comment said, "We left our right main in the paddy."

When the right main left the aircraft it bounced back into the air and flew over the heads of the troops that had just departed the aircraft.  Maj. Common brought the aircraft to a hover while Cpl. Bandish and Sgt. Leonard, the gunner, looked for fuel leaks from the stub wing and other possible damage to the aircraft.  Finding none, Maj. Common was directed to the spot the gear had landed, hovered there while Cpl. Bandish lowered the ramp so the troops on the ground could toss the gear assembly into the aircraft.

After departing the zone, Maj. Common radioed the squadron of his situation and for them to be prepared to accept his aircraft without a right main gear.

Maj. "Tim" Common

I recall that I was totally pissed at myself, especially since I was the Aviation/NATOPS officer for the squadron tasked with assuring that all air crews operate their aircraft within safe parameters to avoid an incident such as mine.  The mains were designed to take lots of longitudinal stress, but substantially less lateral, so my left rudder application in order to see better set the whole thing up.  I used this and other incidents of mine, as well as those of others, to emphasize one point or another during my 20 years with Lockheed Martin as a rotary wing civilian Contract Simulator Instructor at NAS Whiting. 
Situational Awareness!! 

Cpl. James H. Bandish

It  was some what humorous when the guys in the zone tried to hand the gear assembly back to me through the side door.   We had to hover and drop the ramp to get it in.   Maj. Common, the squadron's NATOPS office, saw no humor in the situation. He did get on me a little for not giving him enough clearance information as we departed the zone.  That's the problem with flying as the crew chief and right gunner, especially on a CH-46.  I guess we did not have enough gunners to go around.  Upon arriving at Marble Mountain, we had to land with our right stub wing on a rubber tired dolly and a few mattresses.  This must not have been an unusual occurrence, as they had a pile of mattresses and a rubber tired dolly at the hanger for this purpose.   Little did I know that I would again use this mattress covered dolly again 25 April 1970.