Charles Skelton: “I rise today to commend the crew of the U.S. Navy EP-3 aircraft for their outstanding performance of duty following the…”

“I rise today to commend the crew of the U.S. Navy EP-3 aircraft for their outstanding performance of duty following the collision with the Chinese F-8 fighter on April 1 and during their subsequent detention by Chinese authorities on the island of Hainan, China. I want to make several points about this incident. First, our plane and its crew did nothing to precipitate this incident. They were flying straight and level, on autopilot, at a slow speed in international airspace. They were performing a routine and legitimate reconnaissance and surveillance mission similar to those performed by many other countries around the world. It was the Chinese jet that flew in front of and dangerously close to our EP-3 aircraft. It was the Chinese pilot who displayed poor and unprofessional airmanship, causing his plane to collide with ours. To me, it is simply implausible to suggest a slow and level flying multi-engine turboprop airplane could fly into a fighter jet aircraft. I do not think there is any question about who was really at fault in this accident. It was the Chinese pilot. Once the collision occurred, our pilot and crew did everything they could do. They transmitted multiple 'Mayday' signals to alert others to their in-flight emergency. They tried to alert the Chinese that they would have to divert for an emergency landing in China. And our plane landed on Hainan Island only because it was an emergency.”