The story behind this article is a bit complex. I received the original text (in a sidebar on the following page) from Geoff Riddell. It was far too technical for me, so I turned it over to Bob Miller for a "translation" which is what appears directly below. Bob also wrote up a glossary to accompany the article. So thanks to Geoff, Bob and the unknown "Denny the Rod", here is a pretty accurate account of the entire incident from the US P3 pilot.
From a telephone conversation with US Navy Lt. Shane Osborne (Aircraft Commander of the P-3 Orion), the following account was given of the mid-air collision with a Chinese F-8 fighter.
The F-8 pilot attempted to fly very close to the P-3’s left wing in what was an obvious harassment exercise. At the time, the US Navy P-3 was cruising at 180 knots in level flight at 22,000 feet.
This was a foolish and dangerous maneuver on the part of the Chinese pilot because (a) jet fighters do not handle well at such low speeds and (b) large, heavy aircraft (such as the Orion) create quite a bit of rolling air turbulence in their flight path - not unlike the wake which trails behind a boat. Of course, air turbulence is invisible.
Upon closing with the P-3’s left wing, the Chinese F-8 became unstable and impacted the Orion’s number one engine and propeller. At the same time, the F-8’s tail (vertical fin) impacted the Orion’s left aileron and drove it to the full up position. The evidence of this impact is a large hole punched in the left aileron.
As a consequence of the immediate application of full up left aileron (which, of course, caused the right aileron to go full down), the P-3 “snap rolled” to the left. The stricken Chinese F-8 then crashed into the nose of the Orion, smashing the radome and breaking off the two sets of pitot tubes.
At this point, the F-8 reportedly broke in two. Orion crew members reported seeing a parachute, so it can be assumed that the Chinese pilot ejected. He did not survive.
The P-3 continued its left roll to a near inverted position.
Number one engine had ingested debris from the fighter and flamed out. The number one propeller was also badly damaged.
Upside down, with a smashed radome, a punctured (depressurized) fuselage, one dead engine and damaged prop and complete loss of airspeed and altitude instruments (not to mention damaged flight controls), Lt. Osborne struggled to regain control of his aircraft.
It was later discovered that the Orion’s damage was even worse than first feared. Number three propeller was damaged as well as parts of the tail surfaces of the aircraft.
As if they needed anything else to go wrong, the HF radio antenna wire separated and wrapped around the trim tab of the elevator.
Although a sturdy aircraft, the P-3 Orion was never designed for such “aerobatic” flying. Lt. Osborne and his copilot together had to apply all their strength to regain level flight. The Orion had dropped to (estimated) 15,000 feet and was still descending at about 3,000 feet per minute.
Full power was obtained from the remaining engines (numbers 2 and 4) and full right aileron was required to hold the aircraft level. Descent was finally arrested at (estimated) 8,000 feet above the sea.
Numbers one and three propellers were damaged to such an extent that they could not be feathered. Number one prop was missing an entire blade and was, therefore, causing serious vibration. A danger existed that the prop or indeed the entire engine could be ripped from the wing.
Lt. Osborne ordered the crew (24 total) to “Prepare for bailout.” This is probably a “first” in the long history of the Orion. Once he determined that the aircraft was actually “flyable,” the order was amended to “Prepare for ditching.”
The odds of successfully ditching a large, heavy aircraft in the ocean are, under the best of circumstances, not good. In this case, Lt. Osborne had a severely damaged, barely flyable Orion that, most likely, could not have survived a water ditching. The closest “friendly” airfield was more than 600 miles away, so the only available option was the Chinese airbase on Hainan Island. Ironically, this was the home base for the Chinese fighter that originally caused the problem.
With two engines out, damaged flight controls, no flaps, vibrating propeller, a high gross weight (108,000 pounds), Lt. Osborne managed to plant the Orion on the Hainan runway at 170 knots (very high landing speed). A heroic bit of flying that, clearly, saved twenty-four lives.
Epilogue
The Chinese Air Force officials had the affront to complain that he landed “Without permission.” Can you think of a good two-word reply to that?
More US P3 Orion Meets PRC F-8
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© Copyright 2001 by David W. Tschanz.
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