Helicopter 66

Helicopter 66 was delivered to the U.S. Navy on March 4, 1967, and, in 1968, was added to the inventory of U.S. Navy Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4). Its original tail number was NT-66/2711.

Activated on June 30, 1952, Squadron Four—”the Black Knights”—was the first anti-submarine warfare helicopter squadron of the U.S. Navy to deploy aboard an aircraft carrier when, in 1953, it operated from USS Rendova. It began using the Sea King SH-3D in 1968, transitioning from the SH-3A model. That year, the squadron was assigned to Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 59 and deployed aboard USS Yorktown to the Sea of Japan in response to the capture of USS Pueblo by the Korean People’s Navy. Later that year, Yorktown—and Squadron Four—was tasked to support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the oceanic recovery of returning astronauts.

During the Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and Apollo 11 missions, Helicopter 66 was the primary recovery vehicle which hoisted returning astronauts from the spacecraft command modules. As a result, it was featured prominently in television news coverage and still photography, achieving—in the words of space historian Dwayne A. Day—the status of “one of the most famous, or at least most iconic, helicopters in history”. Commander Donald S. Jones, who would later command the United States Third Fleet, piloted Helicopter 66 during its inaugural astronaut recovery mission following Apollo 8, and again during the Apollo 11 recovery of command module Columbia.

Following the Apollo 11 mission, the Navy switched to a three-digit designation system and Helicopter 66 was retagged Helicopter 740. Recognising the fame Helicopter 66 had achieved, the Navy began the practice of repainting Helicopter 740 as Helicopter 66 for the later recovery missions in which it participated, Apollo 12 and Apollo 13, painting it back as Helicopter 740 at the conclusion of each mission. During the period of its use for astronaut recovery, Helicopter 66 bore victory markings on its fuselage showing a space capsule silhouette, with one being added for each recovery in which it participated. For the recovery of the Apollo 11 astronauts, the underside of the fuselage was emblazoned with the words “Hail, Columbia”.

The aircraft crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1975 during a training exercise. At the time of its crash, it had logged more than 3,200 hours of service.

~ wikipedia