First Hand Story

Hi Jay,
I thought I'd send you some lite reading. May provide a distraction for you
from your normal day. This is a first hand account I received from Capt
Greider. He didn't (couldn't?) go into detail in some areas I would be
interested in, but at least it is the true story and account. Suprisingly
not a whole lot different than the media reported. The ROC vs PROC point
was interesting. Shows the thought process of an insecure government.
Anyway enjoy.
Dad

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CHINA RESCUE MISSION
April 12, 2001
By Captain Guy Greider
Continental Airlines
Since the mid-air collision on April 1, 2001 between a U.S. Navy EP-3
surveillance aircraft and a Chinese jet fighter, I had watched the news with
mild interest. This was mostly due to the proximity of Guam to China. I
never dreamed that I would play a role in this intensely watched
international drama.
Somewhere in the negotiations between the United States and the Chinese
Governments, it was decided that a civilian aircraft should be sent to
retrieve the 24 crewmembers being detained on Hainan Island, China. A call
was made to Continental Airlines headquarters in Houston, Texas.
Continental was chosen because of its Guam base and its ability to launch
this kind of operation at a moment s notice. From there, the operation took
shape through the tireless efforts of many people working behind the scenes
in a coordinated effort between the airline, the military, and the State
Department.
On Saturday, April 7, 2001, I received a call at home from Captain Ralph
Freeman, Continental Micronesia Director of Flight Operations. Ralph told
me that the military wanted to charter one of our jets to conduct a rescue
mission and asked if I would be one of the crewmembers. I said yes without
hesitation.
Later we were told that we would need to get passport pictures taken in case
the Chinese Government required visas. We got the required photos and were
under the impression that we would leave immediately. However, the
negotiations slowed over the demand from the Chinese that the U.S. issue an
apology that the U.S. was unwilling to give. Meanwhile, the Continental
crew remained on call 24 hours a day. Our Uniforms were laid out and our
bags were packed and waiting by the door.
On Wednesday evening April 11, 2001, at about 6:30 PM Ralph called again to
say that the two parties were very close to an agreement to release the U.S.
crew and to come to the airport. Upon arrival, we were given a briefing
sheet listing the information that we would need to conduct the flight.
We would carry a Repatriation Team consisting of Navy, Marine Corps, and Air
Force specialists, 14 people in all. Doctors, Psychologists, and
communications people with lots of gear showed up on the ramp near the
airplane, ready to board. They were all dressed in casual civilian clothes.
The 155-seat jet was fitted with 2 full stretcher kits bolted in over rows
of seats complete with Oxygen tanks and I.V. bottles. They did not know
the condition of the
24 detained crewmembers and they were not going to take any chances. They
were prepared.
When our crew was fully assembled, it consisted of 11 people. 2 pilots to
fly the jet and an extra to provide relief because of the extensive flight
time involved.
They were Captain Tom Pinardo, Captain Pierre Frenay and I. We also carried
5 very experienced Flight Attendants.
They were Debbie Percell, Susanne Hendricks, Jean Tang, Cynthia Iverson, and
Beverly Haines. Our 2 onboard mechanics were Peter Lum and Julius Aguilo.
Our load planner was Mike Torres.
At about 9:30 PM we received a call asking that we arrive in China no
earlier than 6:00 AM, just about sunrise. It was obvious that the entire
exchange would be photographed and they wanted daylight conditions. We
estimated that a 2:15 AM departure from Guam would put us on the ground in
Haikou precisely at 6:00 AM local China time. (2 hours earlier than Guam)
Some of us just stayed on the plane, others accepted the company s
invitation to come to the Continental President s Club, a local VIP lounge
at the airport to try to get some rest. It was difficult to get any rest
with our much-anticipated mission so near.
By 1:00 AM the pilots were back in the briefing room going over the weather,
flight plan, fuel requirements and everything else that goes into a flight.
Again, we loaded up the airplane and finally departed Guam International at
precisely 2:15 AM.
The stretcher kits and medical gear were not the only special additions to
the airplane. The company had loaded a special file into the navigation
database of the flight management computer (FMC). This allowed us to gain
access to navigation data needed to operate in this part of China, which is
not in our normal route structure. The Repatriation Team carried
sophisticated equipment to communicate with the military and government
officials that would monitor our progress throughout the flight.
The route of flight took us straight west from Guam toward the Philippines
along the G467 airway. About half way across we turned north directly
toward Hong Kong.
This routing was designed to avoid flying through Taiwanese airspace,
something that the Chinese could consider offensive.
Approaching the Chinese coastline, we contacted Hong Kong radar control.
After establishing radar contact with us, the controller gave us a short cut
to expedite his traffic flow. This was bad because it cut off considerable
distance and would result in arriving too early. We compensated by slowing
our airspeed until the computer again estimated a 6:00 AM arrival. The
instant we turned across the short cut, the interphone rang from the back of
the plane. They wanted to know why we had deviated from the flight plan.
We told them it was due to Hong Kong traffic and that we had adjusted our
airspeed.
We were still on schedule.
Now we were approaching our destination, Haikou airport on Hainan Island.
Captain Pierre Frenay was at the controls. The weather was 2000-ft overcast
with 5 miles visibility and light winds out of the east. Pierre made an ILS
approach to and landed on runway 9. Haikou airport is much the same as many
other airports in the world that serve jet transport aircraft. It has an
11,000-ft runway with standard lighting and navigational facilities. We
touched down at 6:07 AM. The first early morning light was beginning to
illuminate the sky.
The local air traffic controller instructed us to follow a vehicle that was
beside us on an adjacent taxiway. He led us to a remote part of the
airport, away from the main terminal buildings. Once we had parked and shut
down the engines, we saw many uniformed Chinese military personnel and
vehicles. They did not appear to have weapons. Portable stairs were
brought up to the airplane and we opened the main cabin door.
The Repatriation Team that we carried had been briefed to close down all of
their communications equipment prior to landing and put it away. They were
also briefed to remain in their seats in a non-threatening posture in case
the Chinese military came aboard. The first and only person to come aboard
was an Air China employee. He spoke English and was to act as the
translator between our group and the Chinese military. He instructed us to
have everyone fill out both arrival and departure documents.
He collected all of our passports and left the aircraft.
Before he left, he said that only one person at a time would be allowed to
deplane.
Peter Lum, one of our mechanics went down to supervise the re-fueling and
servicing of the airplane. When that was complete, I went down to do the
walk-around inspection. I did this rather slowly because I wanted to have a
chance to look around. While I was out on the ramp, a skirmish developed
between people who were trying to climb a wall to photograph our aircraft
and the Chinese police. Somehow, CNN managed to carry our arrival and
departure live.
Once the airplane was serviced and ready to go, we looked anxiously around
for any sign of the buses that carried our 24 detainees. Before that could
happen however, we had a problem to deal with. A U.S. military General who
was on the scene to assist in the transfer came storming up the stairs and
demanded to speak with the Captain. Tom Pinardo responded. The General
said that the entire mission was now in jeopardy. A document called the
general declaration, which is standard on all international flights had
listed the destination as Haikou, China R.O.C. The initials ROC stand for
Republic of China which is .. Taiwan! The Chinese were very upset over
this. Tom quickly crossed out ROC and replaced it with P.R.O.C. the
Peoples Republic of China. This seemed to satisfy them.
With the airplane ready to go and the paperwork complete,
2 buses pulled up and the 24 U.S. service men and women saluted as they
bolted up the stairs and settled into the back of the plane. When the last
one was aboard, our passports were returned to us. The stairs were
withdrawn, the cabin door closed, and we started the engines and departed.
It was my turn at the controls.
Once airborne heading straight south we broke through the clouds into the
bright sunshine. Pierre made a PA announcement that we were over
international waters and leaving Chinese airspace. A great cheer rose from
the back of the airplane. A short while later we received a telephone patch
over the HF radio from Mr. Joseph Prueher, U.S Ambassador to China. He
wanted to speak with Lt. Shane Osborne the 26 year old EP-3 Aircraft
Commander. Lt. Osborne came to the cockpit and put on a headset. The
Ambassador told him that on behalf of the President of the United States and
the entire country he wanted to say welcome home . He went on to say how
proud he was of everything the crew had done from their airmanship in saving
the lives of the crew and aircraft, to their conduct on the ground once they
had been detained. They had truly done an excellent job.
After his conversation with the Ambassador, Lt. Osborne stayed in the
cockpit for quite a while and told us his story pilot to pilot of what had
happened during and immediately after the mid-air collision with the F-8
Chinese fighter. The fighter came up under their left wing. This pilot
made 2 very close passes previously that day. He apparently misjudged the
intercept and his vertical stabilizer struck the outboard left propeller on
the EP-3. The U.S. plane was in straight and level flight on autopilot at
the time.
The fighter broke into two pieces and plunged into the sea. The U.S. plane
rolled to the left almost inverted, the pilot lost control and they began to
lose altitude.
The Chinese fighter had raked back across the fuselage and knocked off the
nose cone causing the aircraft to buffet wildly. When the nose cone
departed the aircraft it collided with and damaged the number 4 propeller on
the right wing. The collision punctured the pressure vessel and the EP-3
depressurized. The collision also knocked off the pitot tubes eliminating
airspeed and altitude indications in the cockpit. It also knocked off the
forward bracket for the HF radio antenna. The antenna then flew back and
wrapped around the tail.
We were almost upside down and totally out of control Osborne told us. The
dive continued and some crew members donned parachutes. At about 8,000
feet, Osborne regained straight and level flight. They considered ditching
the aircraft in the South China Sea but dismissed that option because it was
certain to result in loss of life. They headed for the nearest land, Hainan
Island. The U.S. crew now faced the most difficult landing of their lives.
They made numerous mayday, mayday, mayday radio calls on internationally
recognized emergency frequencies. The Chinese did not respond. Somehow,
they managed to get the airplane on the ground.
Their next immediate task was to destroy the sensitive electronic
surveillance equipment aboard the EP-3.
Meanwhile the Chinese military had approached the aircraft in vehicles and
were yelling at them through loudspeakers to deplane. The next 11 days
would be a very uncertain time for them.
When we met them, they told us that they had not been abused or mistreated.
Their food was adequate and plentiful. Sort of like eating in a Chinese
restaurant every day one of them said. On the forth day, they got some
coffee. On the fifth day, some cokes were provided.
The crew did not know what kind of transport would be provided for their
return home. They were pleased and surprised to see a chartered airliner
from the United States.
The rest of the flight from Haikou to Anderson AFB on Guam was uneventful.
During the 5 hour flight the crew was treated to the movie Men of Honor and
enjoyed a first class meal. We did not know it at the time but our landing
at Anderson AFB was carried live on national television.
We taxied to the parking ramp at Anderson where many people had turned out
to welcome all of us home.