Wed, Apr 21, 2004
USN Lt. Shane Osborne Out With New Book
The US Navy Memorial is
hosting a book signing with Navy Lt. Shane Osborn on Tuesday, May
4. Osborn is a Navy EP-3 pilot who was forced to land his spy plane
in Chinese territory to save his crew of 24.
Osborn will be on hand to talk about his book, "Born to Fly: The
Untold Story of the Downed American Reconnaissance Plane," in the
Navy Memorial's Arleigh and Roberta Burke Theater at 7:30 p.m.
His book details the incident that occurred on April 1, 2001,
when Osborn and his EP-3 crew were on a routine surveillance
mission in international airspace over the South China Sea. Two
Chinese F-811 jet fighters intercepted the slow-flying U.S. Navy
aircraft. One Chinese pilot flew so erratically that his jet
collided with the EP-3's left propeller. The collision chopped the
Chinese plane in half, killing the pilot. The EP-3's nose blew off
and the aircraft sustained such further damage that it fell into a
steep near-inverted dive. Shane, his two fellow Navy pilots and
engineers, overcame the nearly impossible and kept the crippled
plane in the air. They had no choice but to land at the nearest
airfield at Lingshui Naval Air Base on the Island of Hainan.
The Chinese then captured the 24 crew members and ruthlessly
interrogated Lt. Osborn over the next 11 days. After he and the
crew won their freedom, Osborn was awarded the Distinguished Flying
Cross for courage and superb airmanship and the Meritorious Service
Medal for leadership.
After the incident, Lt. Osborn remained in the Navy flying
combat missions over Afghanistan from November 2001, through
February 2002.
Currently he is serving at the Washington Navy Yard on the
Navy's Discharge Review Board.
Osborn will be available to sign his book at the Navy Memorial,
following his talk in the theater. His book will be available for
sale, on site, at the US Navy Memorial's Ship's Store.
The US Navy Memorial is located in the heart of the nation's
capital on 7th and Pennsylvania Ave., in northwest Washington (DC).
It is adjacent to the Archives/Navy Memorial Metro Stop.
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