Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit. All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground. Both were okay, but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible. Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam. On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9 kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.