r
SAlCCh BASE MCNTMLT dEPCiT9
I. GENERAL
5 revenue block hours.9 was our lowest month in over
two years. This we attribute to eeveral factors!
general decline. military and non-militarythe comaenceaent of the Paris Peace Talka;
normal end-of-the-flecal year doldrume which affect allactivities;
change in cuatomer requirements which has put the Heliosout of buaineea and is about to close out thea.
. The new fiscal year should beginairly stable level of approximately 5CO monthly revenue block hours. Since it ia too early toore solid forecaat, we are watching tha trend closelyiew to reducing our reeourcea ahould there be any further eutbacka. Although precipitate action right now would be unwlee, especially while the road ahead' la not yet too clear we are nevertheleaa letting normal attrition reduce our manpower gradually and painlessly.
Viet Cong terrorism and other harrassments continue with occasionalrocket and mortar ordnance to keep things tensed up, but the over-all level of conflict appeara to have been reduced to that which prevailed before the8 TET offensive. The "celebration" of Ho Chiirthday onay did not materialise as advertised exceptrief increase in terrorism in Saigon and other populous citlea.
Twenty-fiveand fifteen alternates have been selectedWWttWud attend Air America's formal technical training course at MMB Tainan. It la expected initial student input will coanence within thirty days.
II. FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT
1. Contracts were signedire Brigade Stationoilet and Shower facility at Saigon Base. Both projects are underway.
West Ramp Paving Project is nearing completion (BOi paved) and ahould
be uaabla by the end of June.
3. The Cafeteria Annex will be ready for buaineeahla facility will be superior in sixe and equipment to tho original Cafeteria. It willietnamese Menuunch whereas toe Main Cafeteria, because of lower volume of business will continue,
Hevetaent eall project is now being erectod by RGHD. Footings and colunne are being poured. The Base Area Lighting Project will get underway when materials arrivo from Japan.
be noted that the Saigon Electric Power Company is preparing a
proposal to provide Air AoerlcaTA of badly neededrofoma AH will be initiated upon receipt of the proposal,
5. nterprise completed, theamp Revotaent Wall Project. The Utilities Building is well underway. The TSN Comraon Use hater Well and Distribution Systeas Jointly funded by AAM,ndia advanced water rent will etart soon.
ontract was signed for the erection of the Bob* Hangar Leanto. Contractor has begun excavation and foundation work.
At mm Trang, two contracts were signed, one for the erectionose Hangar Leanto and onearking Lot and Scooter Shed to be located behind the Kose Hangar. Proforrw ARe have been initiated for the completion of the Concrete Paving andower Distribution Systeaity power hook-up,
III. FISCAL
Relations - umber of routine contacts nere made with eachtwo primary contracts and no serious problems were encountered. customer requested information on obtaining "Camay cards" forpurchasing of POL for GFA of locations where Eseo Is not available.
The customer was acviged that the company cannot obtain thesehat it ia the function and responsibility of cuatomer personnel to provide such for these particular aircraft.
Comments: The subject ofeports haa come underhere in Saigon, aa it did during my recant assignment in Vientiane.
It haa been dlacussed with base management here in Saigon and several department heads passing through Saigon. Soave discussedeports with are able to read them much lass affectively use them. It would seem that therereat cost incurred by the companyeport that serve* no great meaningful purpose in the field since itwell guarded secret" Just what goes into the variou* accounts including how allocations are made. Several department heads haveeen dislike at having certain "Base expenses" charged to their particular department, insteadethod or allocation being established to distribute many ofoats to th* using departments,
Monthly Base HanaHer'e Report was briefly discussed with th*ths current formats foreport and Base Manager's Report,is unable to determine how the two aro related and how theythey indeed do.
IT. FLTDC
1. Flying time has undoubtedly boen the greatest source of perplexity for all. Lack of flying tine affects the pilots, and the spasmodic utilisation of aircraft induces havoc in crew scheduling aid crew manning. At present the morale in the Porter Program is excellent, in2 Program is good aid in tho others, comae-cl comae-pa. The VTD Program has proved our biggest
headache. We we confronted with long duty days and low flying tlaa for the pllota. Tho present utilisation factor for Banning the VTB haa proved useless. We are attempting to counteract theae deficiencies with dual qualification. We have dual-qualified2 pllota into the VTB, but manning haa prevented training the VTB pllota into other aircraft. At beat it la a
The Hello Program waa another source of aal-contentment. That la until we received the order to put the remaining halloo in storage. Thla allowed full concentration on training those pilots who were covering the spare Helios. The storage of the Helios also gave us an excellent source for Porter Program input. The flight time from the Hello Program was picked up by the Porter Program. This levied an additional requirement for Porter pllota to fill the gap.
2. All plana camecreeching halt with the proposal of reverting four Junior captains. This will entail croas training two nore VTB pllota and possibly throe more Porter pllota from another source, we are at present training two pilots to fill gaps inrogram. Since the flight time in therogram has deteriorated this Is an excellent source. All programs will be reviewed.
Beech
1. Tho Beech program finished the aonth with9 hours. Programmed flight tlae for June ahould be about the earn*. All proficiency and route checks are current at the present. The Beech era ft program hadccident and incident frea daya.
Forecast tine for the monthoura and actual timoours. Thisot of people very happy/ Two captaina ware trana-ferred to Vientiane which put the work on the balance of captaina.
The customer haa Indicated that he will increase the utilisation of the CA6 and cut down on too Ci.7. Tlao will tell* There ware no accidents or incidents for the month.
flight time for7ours and actual time flownours. Few of the assigned pilots made minimums. If the trend continues, serious thought will be given to cross-checkingIC'e ino spread the tlae and the wealth more evenly.
DHC-4
Carlboua are still unemployed. An off-the-top guessours for the monthircraft hours wore flown. Captains averagedoura and First
1. During Hay there were no Helios on contract; however, woevenue hours ofere flown for5 customer andoura for1 customer. Theours resulted froa ferrying three holloa to LC8. ours of non-revenue were flown. The non-
revenue houra consisted of three proficiency checks one routeirfield check outs and teat flights.
of our cross qualified pllota were deleted froa the program,
and aix were tranaferred to other programs: five lo the PCoC and one to the DHC-a. Of the aix remainingra on leave.
3. The AHF did not fjjj UO hours nor did an/ of the Una captaina getoura aa tha entire program flew only u, houra total. June looks even nore grin unless we can croaa-qualify some of our Hello pilote into other programs to enable than to get some flight time end maintain some degree of proficiency.
This aonth lived up to expectations, tha PC6 program logged an all-time high5 houra with no accidents or major incidents.
ATerage pilot time was approximatelyours with two pilote exceeding the maximum time allowable by four hours each. In one case the PIC informed us of his reachingours ond all efforts to relieve himrior tooura failed. Nha Trang consistently is low time for tho PC6 but in this case VTB's in maintenanceequirement for the Porter.
The other PIC was negligent and haa been reprimanded.
total time la inflated somewhat due to considerabletime being charged to five Hello PlC'a transitioning into thaFSD VTB flow seven pilot proficiency flight checks during their atay.
transition training of the Helio captains. Including linebe completed Interim proficiency checka werethe Acting AMP with TPK approval.
action was neceseary since final word on Hello PIC transfers to
TTS was not received until after FSB pllota were finished and preparing to leave SCM, although we had requested clarification of Helio PIC transfer otatus several weeks before.
number of duty davo per pilot remains high but when highis considered workaroorale problem
June shouldepeat of May in flight time, but we will have our manning level toICa which willore relaxed operation.
May we received excellent maintenance support and aUassociated with the PC6 are to be commended, withoutwe would never make it.
VTfl
1. May aircraft tlaeas approximately IO* short of the. Withine cep-.alns effective, their average wasoura with none in excess ofouig. ffective Firat Officers averagedours and again no overtlae.
The ratio of duty time topics block time is etiU most undeairable. There hashange of pereonnel In the customer Air Operations at TO?oticeable improvement in II Corps.
2. One accident occurred during the month. G6 on9ombination of factors all working together toouble propeller to runway accident which is still under investigation.
ttsBf
hasljgpt increaee in flight tine over last month. The total hours for the month
The monthly pilots meeting was helo on thef April,ilote attended. The remainder of the pilote will be briefed on the meeting.
Capt. Webb did not make his regular trip to Saigon thla month. One interim proficiency cheek waa given by hi/Km. Two route checks ana three spot evaluation checks were given; also three SIC training rides were given to Capt. Bengtson. There was no ground school instructor available so tho ground school was administered by MF/aW. With the exception of one pilot on sick leave and another on homo leave, the program is caught up on all check rides ae of this date.
manning level is currently atilote, one of which is under
training. The average pilot's time will be aboutours. With
this amount of flying time versus pilots available, there is no need to
update our manning level.
V. OPIUAT10KS
1. Total revenue block time for Mayours less than April's time. Thla reduction in flying wae duoack of cargo to be moved by theustomer and the termination of all tha Helio contracts. Hello time for Apriloura veraueours for May. We can expect further reductiohs in flying time, especially inrogram. Theustomer lndicatee there will be further cut-backs in cargo flights and'wherever possible he wills insteads.
wereontrollable delays in May versusn April, but thereesa Saigon departures in hay. In the coming months wo must expect an increase in uncontrollable delays due to weather.
were considerably less GTD coaplainta during May. We areusers to note their complelnte on tha GTD trip tickets into alleviate recurrent problems.
FIC and the Emergency Equipmentare in good order.
Due to the decrease in revenuetudy on FtO coat reduction la underway at this time.
A. Flight Time Report (See attachment B)ncidents (See attachment Cj Ground Transportation (See attachment D)
VI. SAFETY
VII. CCrWtNICATICHS
rains have glared havoc with our leasee teletype landlinesexchange at the Tan Son Nhut civil terminal and the Saigon Poetthe first heavy rainfall,andllnes havef the tine. The Post Office thus far has
been unable to effect permanent repair to the cable. This has required Message Center personnel to route traffic to Bangkok viaink for onward tronsaiesion and also to pouch cut message tapes to HKO for entrance into the SKA Teletype Network.
of the above we haveatter through the ^basaytha Director General, Posta and Telecoaounlcaticns requesting thatbe permitted toirect full duplex radloteUtyp*cither VHP orJTO. equipment, between Air America anc the PoetAmerica would have full financial responsibility to provideand maintenance, be mora than likely would also have to pay
afor rental of space within th* Poet Office building, he are net optlmletlc; PTT has disapproved similar demands from other contractors.
inauguration of tha new neeaog* format and procedures onwhich was necessitated by the chang* over to the seal-outcastlcat Cable and wireless Coopany, Hong Kong proved to be aone and only editor problemsiitered^ been well briefedanrproper procedures and techrrT^ee^Sre^ulckly andby aovice and guidioice froa CfcU pereonnel.
u. urn-in period of approximately four or five months will be required to ensure that all procedures are understood and used effectively before CA* will convert to the full time ami coapletely computerised autoaatie relay of traffic for the Company's SEA Teletype Network.
5. This period can be reported as favorable. Major projects long delayed by interlocking with each other and with other facilities development projects ere now showing progress. Primary to such progress waa course the setiefaetory compromise of funding difficulties. The only major remaining difficulty is th* establishment of adequate facilities In th* co=aunication center to accoaiuodat* the expansion now within the creep of reality.
Message
viii. thappic/aam
1. THSGH has recair.edin tnf DPBltlcn of SATH as additional duty during th* reporting oonth.oBmfexpires la
In regerd to the above position 7MSGN made two visits during the month, the first to Can Tho and then second to Danang.
Loss of equipment at NhaTrnng has been attributed to the Traffic eaployeee and proper property control is
by one of now underway.
equest by 7MSCH to have porter seats recodified by addition of an extra track lock was turned dewn by Saigon QC. Separata correspondence will be forthcoming in thie regard.
of dally passengers handled. Monthly total for Hayn decrease* froa last nonth. Company cargo handled for the aonth of Mayba *hich was an increase* from the last month. Total CA1 outgoing cargo handled for Kay7 lbs, which waa an increaseroa the laat nonth.
a. As stated previously we are experiencing difficulty ln hiring acceptable replacement agenta. Six applicants meeting the requirements have been approved for hiro but thuo for none have shown for duty. Personnel has been requested to assist in this matter aa the vacation season isond the remaining agents are oue annual leave.
use of plush Burns seats on7 Can Tho runs is presenting
difficulty in the safe stowageage/cargo during flight. Thie is under dlscuaslon between base an* customer; and the customer has bean informed that we are required to refuse baggage in some instancee due to the lack of adequate tie-down area.
Statistics
PassengerON (AU
PassengerGN (All
Outbound cargo -
Inbound cargo -
Trafflc/USAlD
Outbound (lbs) SON Inbound (lbe) SCH
including AP Caribou
CCCUPANCT
During? beof wore occupied outercentage
occupancy. Alao during this period, nine non-avail, slipa were Issued.
Sinceay untilhe occupancy rat* will be computed at
a eix beds per day basis aa the Hostel Custodian will be on Home Leave
during this period,
1. Apart from routinearge amount of
-woj|^elating to theechnical training course1
Tainan. Applicants were interviewed and tested during" the
TTra^uTTr of the month. Testing of non-Company appllcante was conducted
in 8VN vocational school classroom space pro viced by tha Ministry of labor.
DTTims visited; evaluated and selected candidates; and net with
RVN government officials, together with APM, CAM and PM, for the purpose of
promoting and keeping alive interest In the program.
2, Tha Ky Con Kmployagnt Office wasonay- Local employment activities are being handled from the Fhu Klet Office temporarily until such tiaeuitable location can be found.
See Personnel Strength (Attachment E)
XX. MEDICAL
Number of sick call i 2
Accident: nd one of them was considered to be serious
.MD Crew Chief - On9 Mr. Hohmann was installing transmission cowlingelicopter and while the main motor running atercent for purpose of tacking tail motor Mr. hohmann slipped froa left engine deck fell and struck back of his head on left passenger step. He was taken into Base Clinic immediatelynches laceration posterior skull with profuso bleeding but conscious. He was then taken to the US 3rd Field Hospital and later transferred to 2Ath Evacuation Hospital at Long Blnh. Doctor reports stated that heompound depressed skull fracture and his general condition le good. Operation was performed on May 2Lth and hie condition was good. He was evacuated to Xokota, Japan onh and then airevacuated by chopper to Xooosuka Naval hospital where he is now hospitalized. Aa reeoauended by doctor in Long Blnh that Mr. Hohmann will remain in Japan for about two weeks convalescence and after that time he will probably be able to return to Saigon. Upon return he will have to make periodic check up visits to Long Blnh until full recovery.
2. Hospitalised sick call: ospitalised accident : nhospitallsed accident: utcalls: 3
Physical examination! Flight crew
Pre-employment phy. ccident flight phy. otal: 72
ater exam. -
Vaccination: 37
Total nan days lost by reasons ofj days Total man days lost by reasons of accidnet - ?B days
XII. SECURITY
1. The extensive, security precautions had been taken by Vietnamese Government throughout Saigon and Gia Dinh province to prevent VC terrorist activities and possible demonstration on the Coranemorative of the Buddist birthday which took place on VC had intensified their terrorist activities In Saigon and in Gia Dinh provincencidents as follows:
- Six TNT blasts that damaged three electric transformer stations; the Dlen Hong overpass near the Saigon Central market; the Ola Dinh Inforoation Service.
- Two attempted attacks the 5th Police Precinctub-police station of the 3rd precinct with TWT charge.
area of the Lth Precinct.
2. Tba curfew ut Tan Son Mhut airport is,
to the escalation of the coet of living under these circumstances in Saigon, civil servants and servicemen willercent Increase on their basic salaries. This increase will be effective from let
XIII. TECHNICAL SERVICES
welcome decrease was made in the percentage of maintenance delays versus aircraft departures this month. The delays chargeable to maintenance at Saigon Base was onlyor8 departures. One these should be charged to the pilot, when he refused toecause the electric starter was inoperative at departure. The Flight hanual clearly states thisCO" item, if the manual engage system is working. ThisGK/DKJ SON flights with no stops in between. Even with this extra delay, the nine delaysecord low, unequalled forear at Saigon, (hadn April).
new Cafetoria Annex Building will open for business
Thle building will seatmployeesime, (the HaIn Cafeteria Building. All food services will be moved to the Cafeteria Annexuly. At this tine, we will.perform some renovatlone general cleaning, painting and rescreening the windows and doore. Thin mm* win ia,sano^hen^ewlUocjra^
low priced special lunch for
6CSVN. All employees will be welcome to eat in either of th* two Cafeterias, depending on their personal choices.
toilet facilities are finally under construction for the iOO
hangar area. This amounts to two etools and two sinks for the ladies, four stools, six urinalsarge oval hand wash basin for the men, plus two shower stalls adjoining theoom. The facility is located between the HMD hangar and th* HMD Shops Building at the west ond. Thisong awaited and highly apprecieted addition to the facilities.
The flying hours for the nonth wer* downotalith the following breakdown by types:
Company Services
Ko, 1
Ho.
Bo. 3
so.
Engine
Original document.
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