article_snippet.sent: It has been 40 years since the historic evacuation of the of Saigon as the North Vietnamese army descended upon the city, and among the many stories of heroism and bravery is that of a father who piloted a military helicopter to fly his family to safety.
article_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen was able to fly a CH-47 Chinook, the largest helicopter in the South Vietnamese army, with Ba Van Nguyen three young children and wife out of the city and into the South China Sea where they were all ultimately saved by the USS Kirk.
article_snippet.sent: This after Ba Van Nguyen somehow managed to pilot the helicopter while getting out of Ba Van Nguyen flight suit and jumping into the ocean just seconds before it crashed - all on Ba Van Nguyen own.
article_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen piloted a military helicopter (above) on Ba Van Nguyen own to save his family during the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 .
article_snippet.sent: Saved: Ba Van Nguyen flew towards the USS Kirk which was too small to allow the helicopter to land, and so Ba Van Nguyen hoovered over as Ba Van Nguyen family (daughter circled in red) safely jumped out .
article_snippet.sent: Shortly after however, his family and a few friends realized his family and a few friends were running low on fuel, and that is when Ba Van Nguyen reached out to the Kirk asking for permission to land. '
article_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen then flew back out to sea (above) and jumped from the helicopter .
article_snippet.sent: Safe: Ba Van Nguyen managed to avoid the large amounts of shrapnel (above) when the plan crashed .
article_snippet.sent: the Kirk the Kirk however was not large enough to withstand the force of such a large helicopter, which would likely sink the ship and cause the death of everyone onboard.
article_snippet.sent: That is when Ba Van Nguyen went back out to sea and managed to do the impossible and somehow pilot alone, get out of Ba Van Nguyen suit and jump into the water seconds before the helicopter crashed and sent shrapnel flying everywhere.
article_snippet.sent: Unbelievable: Nguyen somehow managed to operate the plane and the plane's intricate system (above) alone after everyone jumped .
highlights_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen piloted a military helicopter on Ba Van Nguyen own to save Ba Van Nguyen family during the fall of Saigon on April 29, 1975 .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen flew a military helicopter to the South China Sea, but had to evacuate everyone when fuel ran low .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen flew towards the USS Kirk which was too small to allow a military helicopter to land, and so Ba Van Nguyen hoovered over as his family safely jumped out .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Ba Van Nguyen then flew back out to the South China Sea and jumped from the helicopter seconds before it crashed into the South China Sea .
  