| The Incident
Frank L. Bytheway was a
civilian working at Cubi Point Naval Air Station. On October 2,
1969 a C2A "Trader" cargo aircraft from Reserve Cargo Squadron 50
was transferring crewmen from the Naval Air Station Cubi Point,
Republic of the Philippines to the USS Constellation on station
in the Gulf of Tonkin. Frank Bytheway was a passenger on the
aircraft.
The crew of the C2A assigned to
this early morning flight was comprised of Lt. Herbert H. Dilger,
pilot; Lt. Richard A. Livingston, co-pilot; AMS3 Rayford J. Hill,
crewmember; ADJ3 Paul K. Moser, crewmember; and ADJ3 Michael J.
Tye, crewmember. Those sailors returning to the USS Constellation
were: HE3 Terry L. Beck, ATR3 Richard W. Bell, ASE3 Michael L.
Bowman, Mr. Frank L. Bytheway, HM2 Donald C. Dean, AMH2 Carl J.
Ellerd, AE2 James J. Fowler, AME3 Roy G. Fowler, MM1 Paul E.
Gore, ABH3 William D. Goresuch, AMS3 Delvin L. Kohker, AN Howard
M. Koslosky, FTM2 Robert B. Leonard, AQB2 Ronald W. Montgomery,
ADJ2 Kenneth M. Prentice, SD2 Fidel G. Salazar and DS3 Keavin L.
Terrell. Some of these men were returning to their ship after
liberty while others were going to new duty stations on board the
aircraft carrier. With the exception of Frank Bytheway, a
civilian, everyone else on this aircraft was US Navy personnel.
While Mr. Bytheway was manifested on this flight, there is no
record of why he was traveling to the USS Constellation. Further,
for unknown reasons, he is not carried on the US government list
of unaccounted for Americans.
Passengers onboard the
Greyhound whose final destination was other ships in the carrier
group task force were: PN1 Rolando C. Dayao and YNC Leonardo M.
Gan who were returning to the Destroyer USS Walke, TN Reynaldo R.
Viado who was returning to the Destroyer USS Hamner, and MM2
William R. Moore who was destined for the Guided Missile Cruiser
USS Long Beach.
After take off, Lt. Dilger
reported "Ops Normal." Communications with other squadron
aircraft and the carrier's air control center indicated
operations were normal. The carrier's radar continued tracking
the Greyhound until approximately 55 minutes after takeoff, when
radar contact was lost. The last radar position was approximately
26 miles out from the USS Constellation. That position was also
68 miles due east of the North Vietnamese coastline, 68 miles
northeast of Dong Hoi, 137 miles southeast of Vinh, North
Vietnam; and 82 miles southwest of Hainan Island,
China.
An extensive search and rescue
(SAR) operation was immediately initiated. Shortly thereafter
other aircraft in the area began sighting an oil slick and
debris. A search and recovery helicopter launched from the ship
was able to recover a few pieces of the aircraft. The recovered
debris indicated that the aircraft was in a relatively high-speed
nose down, right wing down impact with the water, or a possible
right wing failure before impact. During the thorough search no
bodies of the crew and passengers were found. At the time the
formal search was terminated all 26 men were reported as Killed
/Body Not Recovered.
Frank Bytheway is listed as a
non-battle death, body not recovered. He was not carried on the
military lists of missing until April 2001.
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