'Operation Babylift' Fall of Saigon plane crash survivors reunite 50 years later
- Devaki Murch
- Apr 18
- 4 min read
Updated: May 7
WASHINGTON (7News)
Fri, April 18th 2025 at 6:03 PM
Updated Wed, April 30th 2025 at 5:26 PM
The decades-long Vietnam War ended with the Fall of Saigon, 50 years ago on April 30. For one of 7News' own, it was the beginning of an American dream at just 13 months old.
Adam Vance sat next to a stack of family photo albums, filled with awards and the obligatory embarrassing photos. The books tell the story of his early life.
“Oh, wow. My report card," Vance said with a laugh. "Which I don’t want to go through!"
“Besides the first couple pages, the rest are what every kid has," said 7News Anchor Victoria Sanchez.
“The rest are keepsakes and just like any ordinary kid," he said as he flipped through one album.
“It just started a little differently," commented Sanchez.
“It started much differently," replied Vance.
Those first album pages include an article from People Magazine.
“If you look right here. So, right here, this is me here," he said pointing to a black and white photo of a row of babies, strapped to airplane seats.
In 1974, Vance was born in Saigon and abandoned.
“I am absolutely grateful to be where I am. I believe there’s a purpose in life and everything happens for a reason. I don’t begrudge my birthmother for leaving the hospital," he said.
In April 1975, the Fall of Saigon was imminent and President Gerald Ford ordered the rescue of Vietnamese children and orphans from the war-torn country. On the first operation flight out of Saigon, on April 4, 1975, 250 children, along with American volunteers, were loaded onto the C-5A Galaxy cargo plane.
“Yeah, I was one of the thousands of babies that evacuated our of South Vietnam during Operation Babylift," explained Vance.
Just 12 minutes into the flight bound for the Philippines, disaster struck.
“And then the plane fell out of the sky after that," Vance said.
“And you survived that.” stated Sanchez.
“I survived that,' he said.
In doing research for the Operation Babylift and Fall of Saigon anniversaries, Sanchez kept seeing photos with the name "Bud Traynor" attached to them. It turns out, Traynor was the cargo plane's pilot.
Dennis "Bud" Traynor was a 30-year-old Air Force pilot at the time, who explained what happened on April 4, 1975.
“Suddenly, we had a big bang and suddenly, the cockpit filled with the condensation," Traynor recalled. “I don’t know what’s happened yet, but people in the troop compartment said, ‘The back of the back of the airplane’s blown off, I can see the water down below.”
The locks of the rear cargo door failed and blew off -- causing the Traynor to lose critical functions of the aircraft. He was able to navigate to a rice field and crash-land the plane. There were 138 people, including 78 children, who died.
Vance, 51, was one of the survivors. He's the chief photographer at 7News in Washington DC. Traynor, 81, is now a retired colonel who lives less than 20 miles from the news studios.
“Let me grab my camera, tripod," Vance said to himself as he got his equipment out of the back of his news vehicle.
“He has no idea," Sanchez said into the cell phone as she recorded Vance.
Vance is about to walk into a surprise reunion, which Traynor is in on. Sanchez fibbed and said they were covering a health story for the day.
“I’m Adam," he greeted.
“Adam, how are ya?” said Traynor, opening the front door of his Fairfax, Virginia home.
“Nice to meet you, sir," said Vance.
“We’re crossed paths, I can’t remember where," continued Traynor.
“Have we?” Vance said hesitantly.
Vance knew something was up when he spotted 7News Photographer Matt Mosley waiting inside with a camera on his shoulder.
“So, Adam," started Sanchez. "I wanted you to meet retired Colonel Bud Traynor, who was the pilot of the C5.”
“It was you and me, buddy," Traynor said with a smile.
“Are you kidding me?” Adam exclaimed.
“50 years ago today," Traynor continued.
For the first time, Vance heard from the pilot who explained what happened that day in South Vietnam.
“So, I put two kids to a seat, I can show you some pictures of that. I’ve got one picture, and the first time I saw it was in People magazine," said the retired pilot.
It's the same photo showing Vance strapped in with other babies. Now, five decades later, he sits next to the man who buckled that belt.
“I know you were young during that time because if you were old enough to undo your seatbelt, I would have sent you downstairs and that would have been tan amount to a death sentence, just the way the airplane broke apart," Traynor explained to Vance as the two sat on the living room couch.
When the cargo door locks malfunctioned, Traynor was forced to turn back to the airfield. The plane didn't make it.
“I said, ‘Oh, expletive, we’re going in.’”
Traynor took out a laptop and binders filled with photos and news articles.
“That is the picture of our first touchdown. And of course, when I touched down, right then the jump seat said, ‘Bud, we’re gonna make it!” And I thought, ‘Of course!’ Going back to invincible again," he told Vance.
The second touchdown ripped the cargo department away and the plane came apart.
“So, I said goodbye to my wife a couple of times because I thought this was it. 'My invincible ticket had been punched,'" he recalled.
Yet Traynor climbed out of the upside-down cockpit to help survivors.
Seventy-eight children died but Vance was uninjured and adopted by a family in New Mexico.
“Today is not a day about me, it’s a day about you all and making the best of life from where you started back then," Traynor told Vance.
“But I will say, not to completely correct you, a large number of us wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you," Vance said to Traynor.
Even with a storied past, Vance focuses on the present, which includes his wife Paulette and twin sons Bryce and Connor.
“I want my life to have purpose because I know what the alternative could have been and I want to be as good a human as I can while I’m still here," Vance told Sanchez.
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