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Found this on Quora:
In the Vietnam War, how many choppers were lost by the U.S. forces in relation to the number of missions flown?
Roger H Werner
Roger H Werner, BS History & Geography, Belknap College (1972)
Answered Mar 22 · Upvoted by Martin L Walden, Graduate of USA Infantry Officer's School. Year in Vietnam as platoon leader. and Larry Jones, former Station Commander/Recruiter at U.S. Army (1984-1995).
According to research by The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association there were about 12,000 helicopters that served in the Vietnam War (specific tail numbers for 11,827 from all services are documented), out of which 5,086 were destroyed. Of the 10,005 production Hueys, the first 732 were designated HU-1A and HU-1B. 9,216 of these went to the U.S. Army, 79 to the U.S. Air Force, 42 to the U.S. Navy, and 127 to the U.S. Marine Corps. The rest went to other countries. Records show that 7,013 Hueys served in the Vietnam War. Almost all were Army. Total helicopter pilots killed in the Vietnam War was 2,202. Total non-pilot crew members was 2704. Based on a databasefrom the Pentagon, we estimate that over 40,000 helicopter pilots served in the Vietnam War. To help in understanding the above numbers, the first 80 Hueys are missing a letter for some unknown reason. UH-1Ds were upgraded to UH-1Hs. That is why you see a higher percent of losses for UH-1Ds. They were destroyed before they were upgraded to Hs. They were both used as slicks so they should be counted together when making any conclusions. UH-1Bs were upgraded to UH-1Cs then to UH-1Ms. Most of the UH-1Bs and nearly all of the UH-1Cs were used as gunships. The UH-1E, F, L, N and P were typically non-Army. 2,709 people were killed while in Hueys: 1,074 pilots, 1,103 crew members, and 532 American passengers (we do not have a good count on Vietnamese, their numbers probably exceed the number of American passengers). Army UH-1’s totaled 7,531,955 flight hours in the Vietnam War between October 1966 and the end of 1975. The Huey, including the Huey Cobra (AH-1G) which had 1,038,969 flight hours in Vietnam, probably have more combat flight time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare.
SOURCE: Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
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