The impact sent the EP-3 into a 30° dive at a bank angle of 130°, almost inverted. It dropped in 30 seconds, and fell another before the pilot, Lt. Shane Osborn, got the EP-3's wings level and the nose up. In a September 2003 article in "Naval Aviation News", Osborn said that once he regained control of the aircraft, he "called for the crew to prepare to bail out." He then managed to control the aircraft's descent by using emergency power on the working engines, allowing him to plan an emergency landing on Hainan.