Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Life Expectancy. As they entered a one year combat tour, many pilots heard the ominous rumor that the average life expectancy of a us army aviator helicopter pilot in combat was only 19 minutes. Over 5,000 us helicopters were destroyed and nearly 5,000 us helicopter crewmen were killed in vietnam.
Approximately 12,000 us helicopters served in the vietnam war. For those with their hands on the joystick that means 5.5%. “they were short of gunners on helicopters, because the life expectancy was somewhere between 13 and 30 days,” he said.
