Joe Cunningham: “I would like to cover real quickly the EP-3 incident with China. Some of my colleagues had questions. From the time the…”

“I would like to cover real quickly the EP-3 incident with China. Some of my colleagues had questions. From the time the aircraft was hit, the EP lost 8,000 feet. I am sure the crew inside thought that those were their last minutes. They had 20 minutes to make a determination with a single-engine gone, another engine damaged and the entire front of the airplane off. Some of my colleagues say, why did they not fly to other places? The chances for fire and explosion on that airplane were very high. Secondly, we are in a non-Cold War situation. The rules of engagement dictated that they fly and land that airplane to save the crew. Why not ditch the airplane? The EP-3 has probably got a minute and a half from the time it hits the water. It is not like pulling over to the side of the road and changing a tire. Half the crew is going to be lost. Why not bail out? The closest rescuer or destroyer was over 12 hours away, which would have put them there about 11:00 at night. It was not an option. Our crew did a good job. They had 20 minutes to get rid of all the classified material, which we think that they were able to do. I think they did a good job. I think we owe them a lot of our appreciation, and it is time that China let them come home.”