"Hai Yen was a fortified settlement on the Camau peninsula which had recently been attacked by the Viet Cong. The airstrip was very short and the Caribou clipped its nosewheel on the runway’s edge on touchdown. As one of the pilots later recalled: ‘we rediscovered the principle that an undercarriage designed to retract forward causes considerable alteration to the airframe when it is forced to retract rearwards’. Although none of the crew was injured, a wing was torn off the aircraft and the undercarriage and one engine was damaged. A detachment of RTFV ground staff were flown to the crash site to undertake a major repair job which included fitting a new propellor. When completed, the machine was flown back to Vung Tau at reduced speed with Squadron Leader Harvey at the controls. The recovery of A4-173 was a tribute to the skill and dedication of the flight’s ground staff. The team deployed to carry out the necessary repairs was required to undertake the effort in the open without workshop facilities. The place was under enemy attack each night during their four-day stay, forcing them to withdraw inside the settlement and to leave the aircraft to its chances. Not assisting the recovery effort, either, was further damage caused when an American supply plane delivering ammunition by parachute dropped one case through the Caribou’s wing. This necessitated a new wing being obtained from American sources and flown by helicopter to Hai Yen, where it was fitted. As a consequence, when A4-173 eventually took off it sported a mixture of US Army and RAAF markings. Without the courage, fortitude and technical competence of the ground personnel – and, as Harvey noted, ‘the generous support and co-operation given by the United States Army’ – the aircraft would simply have been written off."

The replacement wing was flown to Hai Yen as an internal load in a Sikorsky H-37 Mojave helicopter.

Stewart Wilson’s book, “Dakota, Hercules and Caribou in Australian Service” (Aerospace Publications 1990) p 196 adds:

"A quarter of a century later, A4-173 still flies on that American wing, identifiable by the lack of three blue formation lights on its upper surface."
 

"A party of ground staff was immediately flown in under Wing Commander Melchert, the commanding officer, to make an attempt at recovery - an undertaking of considerable urgency since the camp was under direct threat of Viet Cong attack, including from mortar fire. To make A4-173 flyable it was necessary for the team to repair or change the wing, flaps and aileron, engine, propeller and undercarriage, as well as the nose. The essential spares for this work were not available through normal logistic channels, but Sergeant E.G. Allen (an equipment assistant back at Vung Tau) managed to ensure that the replacement parts were obtained; the resourcefulness and initiative shown by this airman were to earn him a mention in despatches.

Ten days later the aircraft was able to be flown back to base by the commanding officer, albeit with its undercarriage chained into position. The perils of this flight were to win Melchert the Distinguished Flying Cross, although - as events proved - the greater perils lay in the aircraft remaining longer at Ba To. Several clashes had taken place while the RAAF technicians were at the camp (eight enemy being killed during one night), but an attack on the airfield later in the day of A4-173's departure would have seen its certain destruction. Return to Vung Tau marked the beginning of six months of hard work by the unit's engineering staff to get the Caribou fully serviceable again. One of Melchert's last official duties before handing over command to Squadron Leader A.J. Fookes in March 1967 was to test fly A4-173 after its restoration."

The ferry flight was uneventful, proceeding basically in accordance with the planned itinerary. The largest deviation from itinerary occurred on the last day when a small hitch in fueling delayed departure from Longreach. Together with stronger headwinds than anticipated this caused the arrival at Richmond on 26FEB72 to be 30 minutes late. This was the first time that A4-173 had touched Australian soil!