Word: piloting
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Everyone had a job to do onboard the dying navy reconnaissance plane when it began to fall out of the sky. The two pilots up front were trying to save the aircraft, while the other 22 crew members in back were trying to destroy what was inside it. Two Chinese F-8 fighters had been tracking the plane closely, too closely, for 10 minutes. The U.S. flyers even recognized one of the pilots, Wang Wei, a notorious hotdogger who one time flew so close to an American plane that he could be seen holding up his e-mail address...
...like a speedboat and a sailboat," said a Navy pilot. "The smaller, more powerful guy has the responsibility to avoid the bigger, slower one." Yet recently, as the U.S. stepped up surveillance flights in response to China's buildup in the area, the Chinese pilots had become more aggressive. "Sometimes they're so close you can see their faces," David Cecka, Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class onboard the downed plane, had told his mother. It got so bad that U.S. officials complained. "We went to the Chinese and said, 'Your aircraft are not intercepting in a professional manner. There...
...involved with this thing from the beginning, but he has no desire to stand out." And so it was Bush himself who went before the cameras on Monday to read a statement designed to sound firm but not threatening. The White House had decided not to attack the Chinese pilot for hotdogging near the U.S. plane, and instead called the collision an "accident." "Our priorities are the prompt and safe return of the crew," Bush said, "and the return of the aircraft without further damaging or tampering...
...American servicemen and one New Zealander when a U.S. fighter jet missed its target in a training exercise. The F-18 navy plane dropped its load on an observation post and parked cars more than 2 km from its intended target. Investigations will focus on the role of the pilot and the air controller in directing the strike, which wounded up to a dozen others, including Kuwaitis...
...into trouble, there are tons of airports below for an emergency landing. We'll be O.K. Perfect takeoff to the south over Boston Harbor, and then bank slightly right toward home. Level off at 16,000 ft. I hear the crackle of the intercom. The pilot says it'll be a smooth flight. Safety-belt sign is turned off. I love his voice. I push back my seat and stare out the window...