21 Die in Blast at Viet Airbase

May 16, 1965 - Further explosions were expected at Bienhoa, a major airfield in South Vietnam, in the aftermath of a chain of blasts early today that killed at least 21 Americans and one Vietnamese. More than 40 aircraft were destroyed or damaged.

The new explosions are awaited from 5,000 of live delayed-action bombs jolted out of the smashed planes. The bombs have fuses that will cause them to explode 12 to 144 hours from the time they are activated. If tampered with, they could go off immediately.

Of 63 Americans who were wounded, 22 were hospitalized. The final total of fatalities was expected to exceed the 23 American deaths at a military hotel in Quinhon Feb. 10, making the number of Americans lost today the largest in a single incident in Vietnam.

Ten B-57 Canberra jet bombers, completely destroyed by the blasts, had been loaded with 500-pound bombs for a raid against the Viet Cong in South Vietnam.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Moore of the U.S. Air Force, commander of the Second Air Division, said he was satisfied that the disaster was an accident and not due to sabotage.

However, he added that expert investigators would soon arrive from the U.S.

Visiting the airbase this afternoon, Ambassador Maxwell Taylor urged “a careful investigation to find out what we can learn from this disaster.”

The timing device permits dropping of bombs that explode after the enemy troops believe the danger has passed and have moved back into bombed areas.

A military spokesman said such bombs had been used in both North and South Vietnam.

To avoid permitting the enemy to defuse the bombs, they are constructed to explode if their fuses are tampered with. 

Gen. Moore said he had ordered demolition crews away from the 100 square yards over which the bombs are scattered.

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