[ME] Re: Crippled US EP-3

[Robert "J." Hansen <rjhansen@xxxxxxxx>]

> OK... tell me if I'm wrong...

Since you asked nicely, okay--you're wrong.

> Why didn't they crew abandon the plane and ditch it in
> the sea, versus delivering sensative equipment into
> the hands of the Chinese?

Because the EP-3 crew has protocols that it follows in the event that
capture is likely.  Electronic data can be erased; papers can be burned;
hard drives thrown out the side of the plane.  It's pure speculation at
this point, but I speculate that we'll discover the EP-3 crew destroyed
the most sensitive information prior to landing.

Insofar as crashing the plane at sea, that's a highly risky proposition.
The stall speed of an EP-3 can't be much less than 150MPH.  At 150MPH,
water is like concrete; the surface tension alone is enough to shred an
aircraft.  Then there's the problem with the crew getting thrown around
inside an aircraft full of jagged metal, and the injuries resulting from
that.  Then there's a several-mile swim to shore, etc.  Short version: a
sea crash, out far enough that the plane couldn't be easily salvaged by
Chinese crews (thus giving US submarine crews and SEALs time to do a
thorough destroy job on it) would likely have critically endangered the
lives of the crew.

It's very easy to say they should have taken the risk.  But until you've
actually been in the sharp end, with one of your wings on fire, your
fuselage crumpled in from the impact of the Chinese fighter jet, the
world going to shit around you, and a Marine sergeant in the back seat
fumbling with his 9mm and figuring that, with 15 rounds in the mag, he
can take out 14 pinkos before capping himself... well.  We make the best
decisions that we can.

I, for one, am not second-guessing the crew.