English: A U.S. Navy Sea King helicopter arrives to recover the Apollo 10 astronauts, seen entering a life raft, as the Command Module "Charlie Brown" floats in the South Pacific. U.S. Navy underwater demolition team swimmers assist in the recovery operations. The splashdown occurred at 11:53h, 26 May 1969, about 660 km (400 mi) east of American Samoa. Note that in this photo the divers have attached a flotation collar to the spacecraft.
The recovery helicopter was the Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King helicopter no. "66" (BuNo 152711) of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4 (HS-4) "Black Knights". From late 1968 through the spring of 1970, the "Black Knights" of HS-4 participated in and pioneered techniques for the Apollo capsule recoveries. HS-4 was on scene for Apollo missions 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13. The helicopter's flight number was changed from "66" to "740", as after the Apollo 11 recovery the U.S. Navy had switched to a three number squadron designator - but the helicopter was repainted with the number "66" for each recovery thereafter for public relations reasons. The Sea King BuNo. 152711 could not be preserved, as it crashed on 4 June 1975 on a training flight out Imperial Beach (California, USA). Although the crew was rescued the pilot died later of his injuries. The wreck sank to a depth of ca. 700 m.