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Aloha aviators! I cleaned and reformatted this for you (you're welcome):

>From my former front seat observer in VF 41.  Perhaps a more candid and
technical view than we've seen in media.
Jack L
Date:   4/30/2001  8:53 AM
RE: FW: EP-3 Answers!
Subject:  An Account of the Return of the Naval Crew from China

I had the opportunity to talk w. Lt. Shane Osborne via phoncon
(he was in Disney World!) this past Monday.  The whole story is
more incredulous than the print version.  The F-8 attempted to join their
left wing...the P-3 was doing 180 KIAS at 22K...for a 3rd pass. This A/S is
a bad combination clearly for the F-8. His wing came up, either trying to
stop closure or as a result of being too slow, and he impacted the #1 prop.

The vert fin of the F-8 prob drove the P-3 port aileron full up..there's a
big hole in the port aileron.  The P-3 snap rolled near inverted in 2
seconds per Shane..that's 3-4x the max roll rate of the P-3 w/ max aileron
only.

The F-8 impacted the radome & broke in two.  Chute was sighted by P-3
crew. The P-3 #1 engine flamed out due FOD, the radome exploded due F-8
impact, the P-3 depressurized, lost all airspeed & altimeter info due lost
probes & vibrated violently due damage to #1 and #3 prop and tail damage.
The HF wire separated and wrapped around the elev trim. Shane said it took
both pilots max pull to right the A/C to wings level and still took cherry
lights (max power x 3 ) and full right aileron to hold wings level
initially.

The P-3 had rolled to 130 degrees w/ 30 degrees nose down. They made a
recovery at estimated 15 K altitude but still had a 3k ROD despite max
power. Max powr was required to arrest descent thru 8 K.  They most feared
#1 prop separating due high vibes, despite attempted Fx. The cockpit ordered
bailout (prob a P-3 first) until they recovered control and then commanded a
Prepare to Ditch....before assessing the extent of damage and question of
control.

They finally selected an emergency landing at the nearest
field..Hainan. Other Allied fields were 600 + miles away. They made a 170 Kt
GS (they had INS info in the cockpit), no flap, high GW (108K), no trim, no
KIAS, damaged aileron, high drag due #1 windmill, damaged elevator, near
full R aileron landing at Hainan. Heroic flying that clearly saved 24 lives.

Tell the rest of the story if you hear an opinion that starts w.
"they should have ditched." A 170 Kt, no radome, no flap, #1 windmill, no
trim, damaged aileron ditch would have lost 24 lives.  I vote for the flight
crew and great flying.
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