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CNN Live Saturday

Crew Arrives at Whidbey

Aired April 14, 2001 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to begin now with news of a homecoming. Twenty-four U.S. servicemen and women are en route right now to Whidbey Island Washington, their home base. More than 10,000 people are expected to turn out to celebrate their return. For days now, the island has been preparing for the event, printing signs, changing marquees, hanging flags and banners.

CNN's Frank Buckley is also standing by and joins us now with more on the preparations -- Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stephen, we are at hangar six, at Ault Field at Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island where we are expecting the arrival of those 24 crew members at approximately 4:00 p.m. local time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Some 10,000 people are expected to fill this hangar, hangar six, to welcome home the crew of that EP-3 aircraft.

You are looking live at a shot of another EP-3, an identical EP- 3, and this is exactly where the C-9 aircraft, with those crew members aboard, will pull up and park. After they have parked, they will alight from the airplane and be greeted by family members. That may take some period of time.

And after they have had a chance to talk and greet and meet with each other, after, actually, a couple of months of being apart, because of the fact that they had been deployed previous to the plane going down, they will have a chance for a number of minutes to be together. Then they will come inside the hangar for a more formal ceremony.

Earlier today, much earlier, in Hawaii, early morning there in Hawaii, the crew boarded that C-9 aircraft for the five-hour trip to Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island. And as they were -- just before they boarded that aircraft, we had a sense of what they encountered as they were flying before that plane went down from Lieutenant Shane Osborn, who told us what it was like for him as he piloted that craft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. SHANE OSBORN, PILOT: At first impact, the aircraft pitched up and then rolled to about 130 degrees angle of bank, lost about 7,500 feet of altitude trying to get it out of that dive. Once I rolled the wings level, I called for the bail out. We were uncontrolled still, at that point, the prop was fairly damaged causing lots of vibration.

There was a hole in the pressure bulkhead, so we lost pressurization, my nose cone was gone, and the aircraft was hard to control. Lost my airspeed indication due to the 'pedo tubes getting ripped off, and I wasn't quite sure of the rest of the damage at this point.

We shut down the engine, and could not hold altitude at 15,000 feet. Took till about 10,000 feet until it started holding altitude. At that time I started discussing with my flight station, my senior engineer and petty officer Westbrook, who was in the seat along with my two other copilots, and we decided that we may be able to ditch, but we weren't sure at this point.

So at that point I called for the emergency destruct plan. I can't go into any more detail than that, and I also called for the ditch and called up the navs to get me to the closest air field.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: U.S. military officials have said that he did exactly the right thing in terms of landing on Hainan Island. There were some who criticized, suggesting that he should have ditched that airplane. But U.S. military officials say he did the right in landing the craft and bringing it in and saving the lives of the 23 additional crew members aboard the airplane. About a couple thousand people are here now just outside of this hangar, awaiting the arrival of that airplane which is expected to arrive in less than two hours -- Stephen.

FRAZIER: Frank, as those people gather there, these people who are close to aviation and who understand what Pilot Shane Osborn was saying, what is their reaction, if you're having a chance to hear it, to that dramatic account of those minutes where the plane was in a dive?

BUCKLEY: Seems to be a universal reaction among the people of the aviation community and the military aviation community. They are amazed that he was able to bring that plane in. I was talking to one EP-3 pilot a week ago, and he was telling me that it was almost miraculous that he was able to bring it in considering the fact he'd had heavy engine damage, one of the propellers heavily damaged. The nose cone of the plane was missing, the airspeed indicator, flap damage. They are amazed that he brought that plane in safely.

FRAZIER: Well, we are looking forward to more details of that account and we're looking forward to your being there, Frank, as the crew arrives. Thanks for those insights now. We'll talk to you a little later tonight.

Frank Buckley, reporting from Whidbey Island.

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