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Interview With Captain "KC"

Aired April 09, 2003 - 15:22   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: In northern Iraq, a search and rescue mission under way for two U.S. pilots whose fighter jet went down. Officials say that the F-15 Strike Eagle went down Sunday near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. A Pentagon statement says the airmen are part of the 4th Fighter Wing, deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Base in North Carolina.
Well, today's developments in Baghdad are getting back to the pilots who have flown so many missions in the last few weeks over that city. CNN's Gary Tuchman is standing by at an air base near the Iraqi border. He joins us now live with one pilot's reaction -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, first of all, we want to show you some video of another plane that went through a harrowing ordeal with its pilot. And A-10 Warthog from this base where we're standing at near the border of Iraq -- it was shot by the Iraqis while over Baghdad. It appears to be missile and artillery fire. There are bullet holes throughout the back of the plane, the engine, the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot had to make a decision. Does she eject or does she try to fly it back to the base?

She made the decision to fly it back. She had no flight controls at all to fly the plane, but landed it here safely and she is with us right now.

This is Captain "KC," "KC" being her nickname. Thank you for joining us.

CAPTAIN "KC", U.S. AIR FORCE PILOT: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: You're being described here as heroic for being able to land this plane. How difficult was it to land the plane after being shot up like that?

CAPTAIN "KC": I think, honestly, it was a lot easier than I -- than I really thought it would be.

The plane works as advertised. We have a backup system that allows us to fly the airplane manually. And it worked as advertised, which is a true tribute to our maintainer.

TUCHMAN: You were over Baghdad. When did you realize you had trouble? What did you hear? What did you see?

CAPTAIN "KC": It was almost immediately I knew that I had been hit. I heard a very loud noise from the backside of the jet and the -- the jet rolled off to the left and started pointing in at the ground. So it was instantaneous.

TUCHMAN: What did you say or what did you do at that point?

CAPTAIN "KC": At that point my concentration was completely on just getting the aircraft back flyable again and just really getting myself out of Baghdad as quickly as possible.

TUCHMAN: Did you think you were going to be able to make it back or that you would have to eject from the plane? It happened yesterday with another A-10 pilot who had to eject and was rescued.

CAPTAIN "KC": There was a quick second there where I knew it was a possibility. But in my mind I knew I had no desire to eject over Baghdad.

TUCHMAN: Now explain -- you had no flight control. SO what did you have to do to fly this plane?

CAPTAIN "KC": Well, we have a backup system that just allows us to switch the plane into a manual function of flying. And so you're just flying it manually. There's no hydraulics at all.

TUCHMAN: How hard was that to do?

CAPTAIN "KC": It was -- it was definitely more difficult than normal. It's the -- the stick is a lot harder to move. But it works.

TUCHMAN: Were you scared?

CAPTAIN "KC": You know, I didn't have time to be. All I could think about was -- was what I was doing, getting back in the checklist and how to get back home.

TUCHMAN: The reaction when you made it back here from fellow pilots?

CAPTAIN "KC": I think relief on all parts, including mine. Just relieved to get the jet back home and on the ground safely.

TUCHMAN: You even had two mission since then. You just came back from another mission over Baghdad.

CAPTAIN "KC": Yes, I did.

TUCHMAN: Any fear about doing it again after you went through this ordeal?

CAPTAIN "KC": No, you know, that's -- that's our job. That's we do. We're -- we're here to help the guys out on the ground and when they need our help, we're there to help them out.

TUCHMAN: Before we throw it back to Wolf Blitzer, I want everyone that knows your name is "KC," but tell everyone what "KC" stands for.

CAPTAIN "KC": Stands for killer chick. TUCHMAN: The killer chick. Killer chick. Back to you, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks to killer chick. Thanks to you, Gary Tuchman.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 9, 2003 - 15:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: In northern Iraq, a search and rescue mission under way for two U.S. pilots whose fighter jet went down. Officials say that the F-15 Strike Eagle went down Sunday near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. A Pentagon statement says the airmen are part of the 4th Fighter Wing, deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Base in North Carolina.
Well, today's developments in Baghdad are getting back to the pilots who have flown so many missions in the last few weeks over that city. CNN's Gary Tuchman is standing by at an air base near the Iraqi border. He joins us now live with one pilot's reaction -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, first of all, we want to show you some video of another plane that went through a harrowing ordeal with its pilot. And A-10 Warthog from this base where we're standing at near the border of Iraq -- it was shot by the Iraqis while over Baghdad. It appears to be missile and artillery fire. There are bullet holes throughout the back of the plane, the engine, the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot had to make a decision. Does she eject or does she try to fly it back to the base?

She made the decision to fly it back. She had no flight controls at all to fly the plane, but landed it here safely and she is with us right now.

This is Captain "KC," "KC" being her nickname. Thank you for joining us.

CAPTAIN "KC", U.S. AIR FORCE PILOT: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: You're being described here as heroic for being able to land this plane. How difficult was it to land the plane after being shot up like that?

CAPTAIN "KC": I think, honestly, it was a lot easier than I -- than I really thought it would be.

The plane works as advertised. We have a backup system that allows us to fly the airplane manually. And it worked as advertised, which is a true tribute to our maintainer.

TUCHMAN: You were over Baghdad. When did you realize you had trouble? What did you hear? What did you see?

CAPTAIN "KC": It was almost immediately I knew that I had been hit. I heard a very loud noise from the backside of the jet and the -- the jet rolled off to the left and started pointing in at the ground. So it was instantaneous.

TUCHMAN: What did you say or what did you do at that point?

CAPTAIN "KC": At that point my concentration was completely on just getting the aircraft back flyable again and just really getting myself out of Baghdad as quickly as possible.

TUCHMAN: Did you think you were going to be able to make it back or that you would have to eject from the plane? It happened yesterday with another A-10 pilot who had to eject and was rescued.

CAPTAIN "KC": There was a quick second there where I knew it was a possibility. But in my mind I knew I had no desire to eject over Baghdad.

TUCHMAN: Now explain -- you had no flight control. SO what did you have to do to fly this plane?

CAPTAIN "KC": Well, we have a backup system that just allows us to switch the plane into a manual function of flying. And so you're just flying it manually. There's no hydraulics at all.

TUCHMAN: How hard was that to do?

CAPTAIN "KC": It was -- it was definitely more difficult than normal. It's the -- the stick is a lot harder to move. But it works.

TUCHMAN: Were you scared?

CAPTAIN "KC": You know, I didn't have time to be. All I could think about was -- was what I was doing, getting back in the checklist and how to get back home.

TUCHMAN: The reaction when you made it back here from fellow pilots?

CAPTAIN "KC": I think relief on all parts, including mine. Just relieved to get the jet back home and on the ground safely.

TUCHMAN: You even had two mission since then. You just came back from another mission over Baghdad.

CAPTAIN "KC": Yes, I did.

TUCHMAN: Any fear about doing it again after you went through this ordeal?

CAPTAIN "KC": No, you know, that's -- that's our job. That's we do. We're -- we're here to help the guys out on the ground and when they need our help, we're there to help them out.

TUCHMAN: Before we throw it back to Wolf Blitzer, I want everyone that knows your name is "KC," but tell everyone what "KC" stands for.

CAPTAIN "KC": Stands for killer chick. TUCHMAN: The killer chick. Killer chick. Back to you, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks to killer chick. Thanks to you, Gary Tuchman.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com