"Eugene Griessel" wrote in message...
"a425couple" wrote:
In 2001 a US reconisance plane fell into Chinese
hands for full examination.
If pilot Osburn had tried to fly as far as he could
toward an 'authorized' airport and had to 'ditch'
in the open ocean, what were the chances of
the 24 crew surviving?

What a question. If you are in a head-on collision with another car
what are your chances of surviving?

I'm sorry you do not like it.

They range from 0% to 100%, don't they?

The reason I asked it on these newsgroups, is that I thought
there might be some who could give historical information
to pin it down better than "from 0% to 100%".

He was able to control it well enough to fly it 70 miles
and land it at an airport (Red Chinese).
Have any Orions been 'ditched' i.e. controled landings
on water?

If he ditched well the thing should have floated long enough
for the crew to take to the dinghies. Thereafter it would have been a
case of how far away (and how competent) was the rescue. If he made a
dog's mess of the ditching they could have all gone down with it.
It's a low-wing aircraft so it should ditch fairly well and float well
too. Sea-state permitting of course. A reasonably competent pilot
should have been able to handle it if he sea was playing along.
Eugene L Griessel