Lane Army Airfield (also known as Lane Army Heliport or An Son Airfield) is a former United States Army base west of

Qui Nhơn Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. Hi ...

Bình Định Province B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

History

The base was originally established in late 1965 by the 70th Engineer Battalion approximately 14 km west of Qui Nhơn and southwest of the Highway 19 and Highway 1 intersection. The base was named after SP5 James Lane of the 8th Transportation Company who was killed in action on 16 July 1962. The base's first occupants were the

161st Aviation Company This is a List of aviation companies of the United States Army from the United States Army Aviation Branch The United States Army Aviation Branch is the administrative organization within the United States Army responsible for doctrine, manning ...

which was based there from 1965 until 1967. Other units stationed at Lane at various times included: * Troop H, 10th Cavalry Regiment (April 1972-February 1973) * 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment (1971-2) * 61st Aviation Company (November 1967-March 1972) * 128th Assault Helicopter Company * 129th Assault Helicopter Company (October 1965-March 1973) * 174th Assault Helicopter Company * 196th Assault Support Helicopter Company (January 1967-December 1970) * 498th Medical Company On 5 March 1971 Boeing CH-47C Chinook #67-18518 of the 180th Assault Support Helicopter Company on approach to Lane collided with a

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

Cessna O-1D Bird Dog causing both aircraft to crash killing 5 passengers and crew on the CH-47 and the pilot of the O-1.

Current use

The base appears to remain in use by the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...

References

{{reflist Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam United States Army airfields Airports established in 1965 1965 establishments in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Bình Định province