U.S. cargo planes in Cambodia hit

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33774, 21 February 1975, Page 13

U.S. cargo planes in Cambodia hit

(New Zealand Press Association —Copyright)

PHNOM PENH, February 20. Cambodian insurgent anti-aircraft fire hit two American cargo planes and two helicopters on supply missions to the besieged Mekong River port of Neak Luong, military sources said.

A United Press International correspondent in Neak Luong said that Communist gunners yesterday were firing mortar rounds into the tow n at the rate of one a minute to block landings by supply planes when the aircraft were hit.

The town has been virtually cut off and supplies have to be parachuted in. The sources said about 20 per cent of food and war materials dropped fell into Communist hands.

The sources said the four aircraft were hit by machinegun fire but managed o drop their supplies and flew back to bases in Saigon and in Thailand. It was the first known time that Cl3O cargo planes were hit by ground fire in the airlift to Cambodian cities. Two Government helicopter gunships were hit by ground fire while protecting the cargo planes and were heavily damaged, the sources said. Rebel forces last week overran three bases around

r'Neak Luong and spread to' -; the South Vietnamese border,) 3imaking future convoys to) V Phnom Penh almost imposvisible. ) The capital command has 1 been ferrying troops to s defend the town, but they i have not eased Communist i pressure. The United Press Inter- - national correspondent said y the situation remained i “critical and threatening.” e At Phnom Penh’s Pochens tong airport, rebel gunners; narrowly missed a United! < States supply jet involved in J the augmented airlift to the)

Cambodian capital yesterday, i killing five people and i wounding six others, military officers said. America’s civilian airlift is flying more than 10 times more supplies into Cambodia than it did when the airlift started four months ago, military sources said today, Associated Press reported. Last week contract-flown Cl3O cargo planes and stretched DCB jets have' [been averaging about 700[ )tons a day from Thailand,) | mostly ammunition, the i sources said, and the tonnage lis expected to increase as the week progresses. ) Most of the supply flights ) land at Phnom Penh, but L some were doing highI altitude air dropping in other areas, the sources said. Military authorities denied some news reports from Phnom Penh that Cl3os had taken ground fire. In October, when the contractor, Bird Air took over Cl3O supply flights from the United States Air Force, flights were running about three or four a day and tonnages totalling between 45 and 65 a day.

Last month after Cambodian insurgents blocked the Mekong River convoy route, the airlift was expanded to 150 or more tons a day. Bird Air had added one crew to its original five and has signed up seven more, which are expected to be in action within two weeks.