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Mayday Calls

U.S. Spy Plane Made Up To 20 Mayday Calls Before Landing

H A I K O U, China, April 10 — The U.S. spy plane that landed on Hainan Island issued up to 20 mayday calls on an emergency frequency after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet, and the aging Navy craft plunged 5,000 feet in an inverted dive before its emergency landing, ABCNEWS has learned.

Sources say the crew of the EP-3 Aires II made between 15 and 20 mayday calls because they were not sure they were being heard. They also declared they were diverting to Ling Shui airfield on China's Hainan island because it was the only field they could reach. The sources told ABCNEWS the pilot managed an extraordinary feat of flying, stabilizing the propeller-driven aircraft from a steep, inverted dive that the Navy plane was never designed to perform.

Before landing on the Ling Shui airfield, the crew also radioed the U.S. military on a classified channel, warning command centers about the situation. Command centers at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and the Pentagon in Washington were immediately "up" and "listening," sources told ABCNEWS.

On this classified channel, the crew reported the mayday, their location and altitude and that they would be landing inside China. They were monitored by U.S. intelligence all the way in.

Heroic Landing

ABCNEWS has learned the decades-old aircraft dropped 5,000 feet at more than 110 degrees before the pilot pulled out at a low altitude from the uncontrolled dive and restored control.

The emergency calls were made over a period of 28 minutes. The collision took place at 8:13 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 31 (or in local time, 8:13 a.m. on Sunday, April 1). The last transmission on the ground in China, in which the crew said they were surrounded, took place at 8:41 p.m. ET.

Details of the incident came to light as U.S. diplomats today held their fifth meeting with the 24-member crew since their detention in Hainan. Speaking to reporters today, Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock, the military attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said the crew members, 21 men and three women, were exercising indoors and were allowed to interact with each other.

"Their spirits remain high," said Sealock. "The folks that are with them provided some cigarettes for those who smoke and they're getting just about everything that they need."

Step in the Right Direction

China today called Secretary of State Colin Powell's expression of sorrow over the Chinese fighter pilot's presumed death in the collision "a step in the right direction."

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman today welcomed Powell's expression of sorrow, but insisted on a formal apology.

The United States has refused to apologize for the incident, maintaining the collision occurred over international waters. But on Monday in Argentina, a top Foreign Ministry official traveling with Chinese President Jiang Zemin called the U.S. response "unacceptable."

"Where is the responsibility? I think it's very clear," said Zhu Bangzao. Jiang turned away from reporters when asked about the incident.

Chinese Questioning Crew

This morning, Sealock singled out Lt. Shane Osborne of Norfolk, Neb., and Sr. Chief Nicholas Melos of Ypsilanti, Mich., for helping build morale during their days in captivity.

Sealock, who has repeatedly met with the crew, said they were being housed in air-conditioned rooms and were receiving e-mails, toiletries and other provisions, including new T-shirts provided by U.S. consular authorities in China. According to a senior State Department official, e-mails to the crew had to first go through Chinese officials, and crew members were not allowed to reply or send e-mails themselves.

Sealock said the crew discussed some sports and local news in their meetings. They spent a lot of time reading The China Daily, the state-sponsored newspaper, doing crossword puzzles and watching local television stations, he said.

ABCNEWS has learned the Chinese have been questioning the crew members one by one for hours at a time about the incident and their missions. U.S. officials said the crew members were not talking and that was frustrating the Chinese.

Biggest Search-and-Resue Mission

Over the South China Sea, the Chinese Navy is conducting the biggest search-and-rescue mission in Chinese naval history for the missing Chinese pilot, Wang Wei. Covering some 350,000 miles, 86 navy ships, more than 100 planes and some 85 fishing boats have been enlisted to find the missing pilot, according to local media reports.

An IKONOS satellite image of the Lingshui Airfield on Hainan Island, China. It shows a line of trucks or vans along the left side of the aircraft for the first time. It is believed the trucks contain equipment unloaded from the plane. (spaceimaging.com/Reuters) ABCNEWS has learned that during one of the meetings between U.S. diplomats and crew members on the island, the crew told diplomats that t, Wang had attempted to "buzz" or intercept them twice just moments before the collision. The U.S. pilot, however, said he maintained course and speed, as is standard practice in such encounters.

Sources told ABCNEWS the Chinese jet buzzed the U.S. plane twice, coming within 30 feet. The aircraft collided as the jet fighter made its third pass at the plane. The Chinese government blames sudden movement by the U.S. plane for the collision, but Washington says the plane was flying steady — and the faster fighter jet had the obligation to stay out of the way.

The U.S. plane, which was severely damaged in the collision, was forced to land in China, where it remains. U.S. officials have said they want the super-secret plane back along with the crew, but the latest satellite photos show a row of trucks parked next to the turboprop — proof, U.S. officials say, that the Chinese are unloading equipment.

Presidential Warning

As the standoff between China and the United States entered its second week on Monday, patience in Washington was running thin.

"All of us around this table understand diplomacy takes time," President Bush said. "But there is a point, the longer it goes, there's a point at which our relations which China could become damaged."

While the Chinese are hoping for a straight-out apology from the United States, U.S. officials believe the solution may lie in a jointly signed letter of understanding.

But the drafting of the letter appeared to hinge on a choice of words that would save face for Bush and Jiang. Speaking at a press briefing in Washington today, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said a document had been going back and forth between the two sides with comments over the past few days, but there had been no actual exchange of letters.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Answers

"they were being housed in air-conditioned rooms and were receiving e- mails, toiletries and other provisions, including new T-shirts provided by U.S. consular authorities in China. "

printed with the following - "I was a POW in China and all I got was this stupid shirt"

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Not surprisingly, the feature article in Newsweek this week.

I had been wondering what altitude the plane had started at. I'm not sure I know that yet, but Newsweek talked about a 8,000 foot fall before the pilot regained control. It also said the lieutenant pilot may not have been the most skilled, that another pilot might have made the additional 200 miles to Vietnam. Of course, Newsweek's info might be a tad stale at this point, but it makes me wonder what the Chinese pilots might have suspected. It may not have taken that much to throw the US pilot off course.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

I learned today that the nose cone was damaged and separated from the plane at the time of the crash. Anyone seen that printed anywhere?

Also, besides the steep altitude drop, the pilot was a miracle worker to even keep the plane flying since the vibrations of the damaged engine was causing great difficulty in flying.

Also, if the nose cone was missing, that was also causing severe difficulties in flying.

Curious, huh?

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Somewhere in here we have a post that says the nose cone was knocked off and two propellers were damaged on the 4-prop plane.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Well, it appears from these statements that the pilot was the one to make the decision to land in China, and that he was not simply following "orders-from-headquarters", so to speak. That is what I have suspected from the start. The problem would be that the pilot likely couldn't get any specific orders from the military in the short time he had to decide what to do. The military command available on the radio (to the pilot) likely wouldn't want to make such a decision so quickly, namely, land in China. So it would be left up to the pilot to decide.

As far as initial altitude for the plane, I haven't seen that stated yet. I can tell you that the model plane they were using, basically a Lockeed Electra turboprop, usually cuises at about 25,000 feet. It can go higher, but not too much higher. There would be no point in flying lower than that since some of the radar equipment, and radio receivers, needs a line of sight to reach out furthest and that would mean flying at least at 25,000 feet to get the best reception.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001