Phạm Quang Khiêm (born December 27,ạmQuangKhiê 1946) was a first lieutenant and co-pilot in the South Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) during the Vietnam War. Khiêm was a cargo pilot with the 53rd Tactical Wing of the 5th Air Division stationed at Tan Son Nhut. He flew several missions into communist-occupied Pleiku to rescue VNAF personnel. On 3 April 1975, Khiêm organized a plan to steal a C-130A and gathered 53 people to rescue them from the North Vietnamese communists. Later, Khiêm became pilot for Piedmont Airlines until 2006.
Early life
Phạm Quang Khiêm was born on December 27, 1946, in Vĩnh-Long, Vietnam. Khiêm had nine siblings and all of his brothers were in the military. Khiêm had three children: two in South Vietnam and one in the United States of America.
Early career
In November 1969, Khiêm went to Lackland AFB to learn English as a cadet. At Randolph AFB, he earned his basic pilot training, then moved on to Keesler AFB, where he flew the T-28 Trojan. Khiêm also trained at Lockbourne AFB from October–December 1970. Eventually, he was assigned to fly pilot-in-command of C-123K aircraft before moving up to the 53rd Tactical Wing, 435th Transport Squadron as a C-130A pilot.
Hard Landing
On January 24, 1971, Phạm Quang Khiêm nearly died almost ending his flight career before it started. After a year of training in the US, Khiêm was sent to Phan-Rang AFB by the VNAF to start "In Country Training" with the USAF on a C-123K. Khiêm was assigned to fly with 1LT. Minh and their American Instructor, Cpt. John Mastronardi. Minh was the Aircraft Commander in the left seat and in the right, Khiêm. Pham switched with Captain Mastronardi to execute co-pilot duties. One day, they had an assignment to transfer 48 M107 175 mm bullet heads from Bien-Hoa Air Base to a US FSB 113 kilometers north near the Cambodian border. They had to land in an isolated area for a safe distance from any airport facilities since they carried highly explosive material. They landed on the short dirt strip, Bù Gia Mập Air Strip (aka Djamap). The runway was 3000' on top of a 1620' hill. Co-Pilots (in this training) were not allowed to make any landing on a runway shorter than 3600'. Minh was supposed to control the aircraft, but Captain Mastronardi kept Khiêm in the right seat, believing he could handle the landing after previous successful landings. Khiêm, a young pilot, didn't know the difference between a short and long runway. Coming in a hostile area, they had to come in high and drop fast. They came down to 2000' at 78 knots and when the C-123K was about 20 feet in the air crossing the end of the runway, Khiêm decided to idle causing the aircraft to drop, touching down extremely hard. The left main landing gear fell into the belly, wrecking the wheel and scratching the red dirt on the runway straight into the cockpit. Khiêm and Minh were blinded. Captain Mastronardi immediately reversed the right engine, bringing the aircraft back, and stopping the plane. If Captain Mastronardi had not stopped the plane, the whole aircraft would have run off the dirt strip, dropping hundreds of yards to explode down the hill.
End of the War
At the end of March 1975, the North Vietnamese had already taken half of South Vietnam. Citizens were fleeing as well as soldiers creating chaos throughout the country. Both civilians and officers were hitching military aircraft to escape the North Vietnamese. At the end of March 1975, the NVA was pushing towards the coast to strike Qui Nhơn, Tuy Hòa, and Nha Trang.
Pleiku
In the north of South Vietnam, the only remaining government enclave was Da Nang. Khiêm flew three missions into and out of Pleiku, evacuating the families of VNAF personnel. The people of Pleiku learned of the evacuation and stormed the airport forcing five C-130's en route from Saigon to turn around before their airlifts were complete. Some C-130's flew bombing missions to destroy the aircraft left behind. They were loaded with 55-gallon drums of napalm and then dropped on VNAF aircraft abandoned on the ramps.