WORLD EXCLUSIVE

The SECRETS of the CHINA/U.S.A. EP-3 SPY PLANE INCIDENT REVEALED

(August 22nd, 2007 10:30AM PST)

BY ERIC LONGABARDI

ERS News has obtained never before seen and previously classified NSA communications detailing the April 1st 2001 international incident in which a Chinese F-8 fighter jet intercepted, harassed then ultimately collided with a US Navy EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident, a major confrontation between the U.S. and China on the world stage, played out through April of 2001. Such a high stakes game of superpower posturing hadn't been seen since the height of the cold war.

Chinese F-8 believed piloted by Wang Wei shadowing Navy EP-3 (January 2001)
(Wang was killed in the April 4, 2001 incident with Navy EP-3)

The exclusive information obtained by ERS News reveals new details of the incident never before seen publicly. The most compelling is the verbatim transcript of previously secret communications between the Navy pilot as he tried in vain to broadcast his dire circumstances to anybody who could help, even the Chinese military.

EXCLUSIVE: Secret NSA transcripts of EP-3 "mayday" calls for help.
(For more exclusive NSA documents click on photo)

The transcript is the second by second transmissions of the Navy spy plane as the incident unfolded in real time. In play was the life and death of a crew of 24 Americans on board the stricken plane as the damaged aircraft plummeted toward the ocean.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld briefing Pentagon reporters on incident (2001)

Navy pilot Lt. Shane Osborn was able regain control and successfully landed his aircraft on the Chinese island called Hainan. Lt. Osborn ultimately received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions that day. Osborn now treasurer for the State of Nebraska, despite being contacted by ERS multiple times for this story refused to comment. Only the "unclassified" version of their story has been told until now.

President Bush with Lt. Shane Osborn and 24 crew members of the EP-3
(2001)

The documents seen here are an exclusive look into what really happened that day from inside America's super secret signals intelligence program run by the NSA and other aspects of the U.S. military's highly classified intelligence operations.