Question on ditching an Orion

"a425couple" wrote in message
...
In 2001 a US reconisance plane fell into Chinese
hands for full examination
(for fuller background, read the below).

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?

http://readersupportednews.org/off-s...-online-threat
Annals of National Security
The Online Threat
Should we be worried about a cyber war?
by Seymour M. Hersh
November 1, 2010
On April 1, 2001, an American EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance plane on an
eavesdropping mission collided with a Chinese interceptor jet over the
South China Sea, triggering the first international crisis of George W.
Bush's Administration. The Chinese jet crashed, and its pilot was killed,
but the pilot of the American aircraft, Navy Lieutenant Shane Osborn,
managed to make an emergency landing at a Chinese F-8 fighter base on
Hainan Island, fifteen miles from the mainland. Osborn later published a
memoir, in which he described the "incessant jackhammer vibration" as the
plane fell eight thousand feet in thirty seconds, before he regained
control.

The plane carried twenty-four officers and enlisted men and women attached
to the Naval Security Group Command, a field component of the National
Security Agency. They were repatriated after eleven days; the plane stayed
behind ----






Wasn't this subject done to death at the time ? ISTR the pilot's decision
was examined relentlessly by people nowhere near the scene when it mattered.



For what it's worth, the odd Orion has been ditched successfully

http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/galler.../RC_DG_3A9_754

This is an RAAF Orion that ditched in the lagoon and was dragged back to the
beach for salvage.



From http://www.adf-serials.com/


"On the 26th April 1991 the aircraft took off from Cocos Island and
commenced a right hand climbing turn to a height of 5,000 ft above mean sea
level (AMSL). The aircraft was then placed into a shallow dive and
positioned for a low level pass across the airfield. As the aircraft crossed
the runway at 380 knots indicated airspeed and 300 ft AMSL, the pilot began
a straight pull-out from the dive with all engines at full power. At this
point, eyewitnesses saw a number of items separate from the aircraft. These
items were later identified as wing leading edge components. A shallow climb
was then achieved with the aircraft vibrating violently. The pilot attempted
to complete a circuit preparatory to landing but height could not be
maintained and the aircraft was ditched into the shallow water of the
lagoon. Fin displayed at 492 Sqn HQ RAAF Edinburgh. Remainder of airframe
dumped at sea."



IMHO Lt Osborn made all the right decisions under very trying circumstances.
He kept the plane aloft, long enough for all the sensitive gear to be
destroyed, he KEPT HIS CREW ALIVE and what was left of the plane was flown
back to the US after the Chinese were done with it.

Who cares what the Chinese would see on the plane, they would get that
hardware via other means anyway. If you fly these missions along an
"enemy" coast and don't plan for this contingency, then you deserve to get
boned up the arse.



Oh yes, did I mention, Osborn got his crew home alive......





--



Cheers

Dave Kearton