This private audio clip features USAF Pararescueman TSgt. Harwell P. Quillian (1946 - 2024) recounting key details from the February 9, 1973, SAR mission at the Baron 52 crash site in Laos.
In this segment, Quillian describes locating the unburned upper torso of what he identified as the pilot (Lt. Robert Bernhardt), protruding from the inverted cockpit window and wearing a flight jacket. He also observed a separate femur protruding from the wreckage in the middle of the fuselage—a detail he later inferred off-record did not belong to Bernhardt and were located in the middle of the cockpit, which remains unconfirmed in official 1973 recovery reports.
Joined by fellow PJs and EC-47 specialist Ronald Schofield (6994th Security Squadron), the team evaluated the damaged, inverted EC-47Q wreckage, confirming no intact sensitive equipment. As enemy movement was spotted downhill, the extraction faced complications: A novice helicopter commander depleted fuel through inefficient hovering, successfully lifting one PJ, Schofield, and two body bags before entangling in bamboo and reaching “Bingo fuel,” leaving Quillian and another PJ on-site for approximately one hour until the second helicopter arrived.
This account contributes to the ongoing analysis of the Baron 52 incident, occurring shortly after the Paris Peace Accords, involving eight crew members and persistent questions regarding crash survivability, potential captures, and discrepancies in remains recovery. Shared exclusively for review for investigative purposes.
For full audio please contact John Bear, Chief of Investigative Research, Asymmetric MIA Accounting Group (AMAG) Inc. Email: StoriesOfSacrifice.org
