On the night of April 23–24, one of the mostly American-piloted C-119 “Flying Boxcars” had been hit by two 37mm shells from a Soviet antiaircraft gun. The pilot made it back to base, but the next day the American pilots, who were being paid roughly $2,000 a month for the job, announced they would no longer make the run to Dien Bien Phu; the risks were simply too great, and the French fighter pilots whose job was flak suppression were not doing a good enough job.
