Since my original posting about 5371, our blog traffic has skyrocketed to unbelievable (for an English blog) numbers. I thought I would post some of this week’s statistics since the traffic is starting to return to normal numbers.
technorati tags:blogstats, statistics
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My father bought me my first telescope when I was 12 years old. Since that time I have always been fascinated by long distance viewing, both of the heavens and earth. Yesterday, Hui-chen and I stopped at a mountainside cafe in Hsinpu. I had my D80 with the 300mm lens. Here are some telephoto shots:
Besides the great view, the beverages and other offerings are quite good. We like to go there a few times each month because the city is always fascinating to watch.
technorati tags:Taiwan, Jubei, telephoto, 300mm
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Dear Readers,
Due to personal reasons (medical issues) I have been unable to complete my story of 5371. From the beginning, this story has not been about me, its been about the heroes of that fateful day. Therefore I have released the entire series of photographs on my flickr.com album so that experts around the world may study them and learn what happened. I will post my personal account hopefully by the end of this week.
5371 begins to nose down into the final dive
One must study the entire series to see what actually happened. I’m no expert on such matters by any means but I would like to hear what experts think after studying the photos.
technorati tags:5371, Airforce, Hukou, Taiwan, accident, crash, heroes, investigation, jet, military
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Dear Readers:
Please bear with me, for I have been very ill recently. In fact, a few nights ago I was in the ER at our local hospital. I have a responsibility to the public and also to those men who piloted 5371 and the men on the ground. I have to take my time and do the story justice. Please understand that I am going as quickly as I am able.
In the meantime, in case you haven’t noticed, there are now more than 10 photos of 5371 published on flickr.com. I am working on Part II and I will post it as soon as it’s finished.
Thanks for your understanding.
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May 11th changed my life. I saw something profound, something that initially thrilled me, and later greatly saddened me. Here is the story….
I had been photographing military helicopters all week. I shot literally dozens of helicopters and smoke from bombs and rocket explosions. I shot video footage of a close flyover of a CH-47. It was a week of military games on Taiwan.
The jets were another story altogether. My first view of the jets was before I realized that war games were going on. I heard the unmistakable sound of afterburners (an experience that would prove useful later on) and saw flares being dropped by Mirage aircraft. My first words to my wife were “Is China attacking us?” A few days before that fateful Friday, I had managed to capture a few jets on video, although nearly by accident since the sun was shining so brightly that I couldn’t see them in the viewfinder. I settled for the slower moving helicopters which were a lot easier to track with the video camera.
I went up on the roof many times to get still photographs of the jets, unsuccessfully. Each time I heard them and ran up to the roof, it was too late – they were gone. Furthermore, just trying to locate them in the sky was incredibly difficult! They are gray colored, blend in with the sky (which is the whole point) and are, needless to say fast! I finally gave up on getting the jets and settled on the much easier helicopters. After all, it was just me photographing the show and not a professional assignment. Nevertheless I did get some incredible still shots of the helicopters (which I will put back up on Flickr soon).
Friday, May 11th began with a very early exercise featuring lots of jets. The exercise went on for a longer duration than previous ones. Since the games are played out on a repeating schedule, I saw my chance at last – today I would shoot some photos of the jets and I would finally get some!
I prepared my Nikon D80 by fitting it with the 70~300mm lens. The weather was pretty good – it wasn’t all that hazy and the sun wasn’t shining too brightly either. I had high hopes. I placed the camera on a table on the top floor of our home and I went back down to our second floor office to continue working. I kept my eye on the clock.
Sure enough, I heard the helicopters doing their thing and I bolted to the top floor, grabbed the camera and headed up to my roof, the 5th floor. I took the first photo of the day at 09:23.
It was an amazing sight. There were individual helicopters and large groups of helicopters.
Jets were circling from the southwest, doing a run over the nearby military base and continuing on to the northwest. Their movement can be described as a counter-clockwise motion from right to left. I was facing east, towards the base. I took shots of quite a few jets releasing flares. I really liked the helicopters and I took a lot of photos of them, but the jets stole the show for me. They were nothing short of spectacular.
Truth be told, I don’t get the point of the flares. No one has explained their significance to me, but they look cool. So, there I was, happily shooting jets releasing flares, flares on their way down, and so forth.
Suddenly I heard a sound coming from the left. I turned my head and saw a jet flying very close to me! I was thrilled! Wow, it looked so close that it seemed as if I could almost touch it! The jet was flying at a leisurely pace (compared to the others I had seen). It flew past me, climbing. I followed it with the D80, shooting in continuous mode, focusing manually. The jet banked gently to the left and then nosed-down into a dive.
5371 banks slowly towards the left while climbing
I followed the jet with my D80 until my view was blocked by a building in front of me.
Suddenly I realized that this jet was diving at a very low altitude! Seeing only the jet in the viewfinder while shooting the beginning of the dive sequence left me with no reference point. When it suddenly disappeared behind the building I knew it was very low!
I immediately pulled the camera from my face and said out loud “OH MY GOD! IT CRASHED!” I ran around the roof of my home trying to get a better view, but I saw nothing. I heard the engine suddenly cut out just a few seconds after it disappeared behind the building. I heard no explosion and I saw no flash or smoke. “Wow, that was amazing” I thought because they didn’t crash. Such expert flying like I had never seen in my life!
I went back downstairs to my office and viewed the photographs on my computer. I was amazed that I could see the designation “5371” very clearly. I told my wife that I got some really great shots of a jet nearby. I sent a few messages to my friends on Yahoo Messenger, telling of my good fortune.
Awhile later my wife called up to me and told me that a jet had just crashed and the authorities were looking for it in Hukou (she saw it on the TV news). It was then that I realized what I had photographed. This had to be the jet that crashed. I asked my wife if the news had released the number and she said she hadn’t seen it yet. No one wishes for a jet to crash of course, and I was still hopeful that the jet I photographed was not involved.
An hour later my wife told me the sad news – the designation of the jet that crashed was 5371. My blood ran cold. My hands started to shake. I wanted to vomit. I felt absolutely horrible. In some ways I felt guilty because I was so happy they had flown past my home so closely and seemingly deliberately slow. I was too stupid to realize that they were in trouble and about to perish. I sent more instant messages telling those friends that the jet had crashed and those pilots were killed.
My first reaction was to call the news media. Getting the photographs out to the public was of paramount importance, since the television news were saying that the cause of the crash was unknown. I called our friend Linda Arrigo, an long-time Taiwan resident and well known to the media. Within 2 hours I got a call from someone in the Taiwan Air Force, and shortly thereafter a junior officer came to our home to get a CD with all the jet photos I had taken that day. This officer asked us not to give the photos to the press until the investigation was over. We took him to the roof of our home and I showed him where the photos were shot. I had printed out 3 photos so I could point out the importance of the points of reference that were in some of the shots. He got the point. There were 23 photos of 5371; 13 seconds total.
Saturday May 12, 2007
Hui-chen and I went up to Taipei to attend a meeting hosted by Dr. Jerome Keeting and very well presented by Franc X Shelton. During the meeting I received several calls from the Air Force, wanting more information on where the photographs were taken, and why I chose to photograph this particular aircraft (my apologizes to those in attendance for the interruptions). Apparently they didn’t realize that it flew right past my home. The Air Force officer told my wife that he wanted to send a team to our home to do an investigation. We had to apologize because we weren’t going home until tomorrow. We asked if we should come home right then but the officer said that we could meet on Sunday at 14:00.
Later that evening we went to the Taiwan Beer Bar and met other bloggers and friends. But just before we arrived I got the last call from the Air Force that evening at 18:00. They wanted to know what kind of camera I used to photograph 5371 because the were surprised at the clarity. I consider this to be just one of the many coincidences in this case (which I will outline later).
It was a great time at the Taiwan Beer Bar. I had printed out small copies of the famous 23 photos and showed them around. Everyone was drinking and talking. I felt bad about 5371 and a few times my eyes watered. One of the immediate things that I realized about this case was the fact that the pilots did not eject. Even though they were in trouble, they managed to crash on military property and to spare civilian lives. I kept thinking about how easy it would have been for them to eject and save themselves. Everyone in our group agreed and we toasted to the Heroes of 5371.
Next: The Final Seconds of 5371: Part 2 - The Air Force Investigation
technorati tags:5371, Part1, Taiwan, Hukou, jet, crash, accident, Airforce, heroes
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This article is cross posted to both The NH Bushman in Taiwan, and Bushman’s Asian Food Blog
Photos by MJ Klein
With all that’s been going on lately, Hui-chen and I decided to go to one of our favorite places, the Outback Steakhouse in Hsinchu, for a relaxing evening of fine dining. For the last few weeks I’ve been saying that I need a vacation. We decided to have a high class meal and enjoy ourselves.
Nothing beats starting off a meal with Moet & Chandon. Hui-chen looks on approvingly.
If you haven’t tried it lately, you should. NT$2,500 per bottle, its a good value.
Outback has a new menu. One thing that we noticed is, many items on the menu are only available at the Taipei branch. Those items are marked with a big red dot. It seems like most of the things that we would have ordered had a big red dot next to them.
Next up was this nice chicken salad - big enough for 2 people.
I couldn’t imagine eating that whole thing by myself!
This is a kind of weird looking, but good cheese/bacon fries dish.
An after dinner photo shot in ambient light (no flash). It pretty much captures the ambiance of the place, which is nice.
There are no photos of what we came for - the steak. The reason is, we were disappointed by them. First of all, since Outback changed their menu, the very steak that I came for (the Porterhouse) its no longer available. The next best item is the T-bone, and its now a thin steak, like what I get in Thailand. There was way too much fat and gristle on that cut of meat. Plus, there is one issue that I just cannot abide by, and that is additives! I frequently tell waiters that I want nothing on my steak but “the chef’s fingerprints.” My steak came out overcooked and I had to send it back. The next one came out with some kind of pepper seasoning on it, and it made the steak taste dry and spicy - which I passionately dislike! The manager told us that they put some stuff on the grill to make grill marks, which means she totally missed the point about the seasoning - this was some kind of powered seasoning that someone sprinkled onto the meat to give it “flavor” (this is a frequent solution in Taiwan). Hui-chen and I have dined in both the Hsinchu and Taipei branches on several occasions and this is the first time we have experienced that seasoning additive.
As if that weren’t enough, Bushman is an outdoor cooking expert and I can tell you that the grill temperature was too low. The chef was “afraid” that the inside wouldn’t be cooked enough (so stated by the manager when she brought the steak), so he turned down the grill to prevent the outside from cooking too quickly (as opposed to just frequent turning as one normally would). The result was a “baked” flavor and the entire cut was mushy. I couldn’t finish it.
Hui-chen’s ribeye was moderately good, but it was better than my T-bone (which isn’t saying much). At least it was a thick and juicy cut of meat, as it should have been.
Typical grilled steak in Thailand. Thin and easily dried out if overcooked.
Sorry to have to give a negative review, but our Outback experience last night wasn’t as good as we have come to expect. Please bring back the old menu!
technorati tags:Taiwan, Hsinchu, Outback, steakhouse, ribeye, t-bone
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Wonderful, thoughtful comments. I can hardly keep up! If I have missed replying, please don’t take offense - I still have to make a living! So, here are the comments:
Randolph said… You did a brave thing, we all appriciate…. 12:34
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
TONY said… ????????????????????????????????????????????BLOG?http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/sunponyboy-IDF/ 13:44
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
Tony Huang said… Mr. Klein, Do you feel your life have changed in anyway after this incident? We appreciate your effort in this matter! Regards, –Tony Huang
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
YC said… Dear Mr. Klein Today I see the article from Yahoo website, and it describes that you took key & continuously(the last 14 seconds) figures when military aircraft crashed. Thank you so much. It’s very important for the ministry of the Taiwan’s defense to verify the truth. Maybe official investage detail information from black box, the photos also have great profit. I’m sorry, my English is so poor, and thanks to provide this space for me to read & try to write my opinions. 15:26
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
Anonymous said… Well…what should I say? I still remenbered that morning.. I turned on the TV to check the final about the Yankees vs Rangers beccause of the Yankees pitcher Chien Ming Wang but suddenly I saw the news. A familiar name of the front pilot…oh~ my~ yes, he was my senior-high-school classmate. We were the members of the brass band; he was the best trumpet; his fravorite solo is the theme of Godfather. We used to play basketbll. He used to mock me that I have the beautiful playing position but not scoring. Gosh..so many memories… Thank you for the photos…. 16:16
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
[POD] fox (25) said… ??? ??? 2?????? ????? don’t be sorry ,they are doing there duty. let us treasure and honor
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
Jasmine said… I am a Taiwanese in NYC,We respect ur braveness to reveal these pictures. Truth can never be replaced. 12:31
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: United Daily News Interview
zp said… I appreciate what you are doing, honouring the brave pilots. Thanks alot. At the same time, I’d hope you’ll also remember the two singaporean soldiers killed on the ground in the crash. Being a conscripted singaporean soldier myself, I feel it is tragic that their bright futures were cut short so aburptly. Having to give 2 years of our life at our prime to serve the nation is something all singaporean males must do, but giving your life in the process is truely tragic. It is not that I am blaming the pilots, just that I’d hope you do not forget these servicemen too. 23:01
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Hsu said… Thanks for telling the other side of the story, I thought the military’s report was a conclusion of a series rigorous investigation, I think you are doing a good job for providing those pictures which though was never your intention to be used for the military to judge the incident was a human error. Take it easy, man. Best Regards, Hsu 13:38
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
hsu said… another thought, I think this is all the military’s fault for picking the wrong place for such exercise. Poor planning! Why would they pick such a place that where the residential area is just nearby? The pilots had 10 seconds to eject from the plane before crashing to save their own lives, but they gave up because they wanted to guide the plane to an ‘empty’ spot… 13:52
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Jonathan said… Dear MJ; Thanks for your photo for our brave airforce pilot. In my mind, I won’t blame them for their operation erro if the investgation report is correct. They did what they can do in the last seconds and avoid to kill more people. They made me proud to be a Taiwanese. Again, thanks for your photos and story~ 14:35
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Anonymous said… sir, the pilot is my friend’s brother,i hope he never visit your blog,its so sad!! by the way everyone can find your blog is in yahoo New(Taiwan)now 16:14
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Anonymous said… We all die someday. The difference is that some people die for a cause and most of us die as we must. The pilots are no doubt the former. Your photos help us realize that the good will at heart could really overcome the horror in face of such finality. I think you have, to some degree, also joined that good part of humainity and brought to our conscience something truly beautiful and noble in your photos. Thanks a lot! 11:50
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Stanley said… I guess nobody could ever truly know how you feel about the way the military made use of your photos, yet I personally disagree with their conclusion. You do take the full right of doing any actions about the photos, and I admire what you have done with them. On the other hand, I would believe that one of the best ways to salute the two valiants is to appreciate their sacrifice and learn a lesson from the sorrow of 5371. Thanks, MJ. 13:03
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Lawrence said… It’s a pity to see that. I feel so bad. Hope the world peace,no military tradegy again. I love Kenting 12:02
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: 2 More Photos
Tony Huang said… I am very eager to read your analysis! Please do share with us. I am sure all Taiwanese would also like to learn the truth to this incident! Best Regards, –Tony Huang
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: 2 More Photos
smarlie said… sir, thank you for what you done for the two heros on the 5371, people who lost their family, the society of Taiwan, and those who always believe in the good nature of human beings in the whole world. 12:49
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: 2 More Photos
?? said… Everything you do means a lot to the brave pilots and their families and everyone who care about this. I think you care this island more than many others who live in it. Thank you so much for what you do. 14:10
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: 2 More Photos
Anonymous said… Hi this is my first time visit your blog. I and a taiwanese student who study in singapore, I got this sad news the next day when i watch then news fom the SG tv . Many of my frends here told me that why taiwan still using the jet plane which had serve over 30 years.I can feel that they are bleming this incident which also cause two singaporeans.Although i also feel sorry for the two singaporeans But i feel the main things that i concern is the two pilots who sacrifice their lives and prevent the jet from crashing into the crowed area which may claim more lives. They will be remembered in my heart. 17:00
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371: 2 More Photos
Anonymous said… Thank you for your post, and so sorry about TVBS, Something we have to learn, but sometimes we can’t teach them because they have power. So i’m sorry about our mistake , best wishs,and good luck ps : SORRY ABOUT MY POOR ENGLISH 22:42
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: Response and Comments on News Article
MAPK said… Dear Mr. Klein: I am a Taiwanese researcher who is working at Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I served as a second-leutanent officer amd was in charged of medical supply in Taiwan airforce logistical command in 1993. I do feel I have some sorts of attachment to these two pilots because I spent two years working with pilots and grand staff in the air force. After reviewing the news and comments in your blog, I would like to say what you had done is truly honoring the pilots who sacrificed their lives during this excercise. I was deelpy sadden when I heard this news. But with the help of your blog, we can review what was going on during the last moment before the crash, which also gave pressure to the air force command. I just want to say thank you for what you have done. Please continue sharing what you have observed in Taiwan, and let the world know this island that has been politically excluded for years still fight for her own freedom and protect for her democracy! Blessings, Jeff a “lab rat” in Toronto
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: Response and Comments on News Article
?? said… Hi, The pilot Wei, in the front seat of 5371, was the elder brother of my college roommate. I really appreciate what you have done for him. If it is necessary, I might be able to pass your kindness to my roommate. 23:09
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: Response and Comments on News Article
Anonymous said… Hi Bushman: I would like to give my respects to you. You looks like a Formosan more than those traitors. Speaking of TVBS, all we know how bloody they are. If the review was happened, they probably will ask you to fork a piece of bloody meat for them. As an foreign friend. I am wondering how you see the last news about the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial temple? As a civics, I just can not understand why they like to kiss the a*s of a dead autocrat. They asked us to fight the communism before. Now they leave us behind and go to be with the biggest communism system. Are they crazy? Sorry for my stupid English. Probably all of the Formosan can learn some thing about patriotism. 00:49
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: Response and Comments on News Article
meiling said… Hi Mike, Excellent job! As a Taiwanese, I can’t thank you enough for what you have done for the pilots and for the people in the island. Taiwan loves you! Meiling (Edison NJ) 05:47
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: Response and Comments on News Article
zp said… I appreciate what you are doing, honouring the brave pilots. Thanks alot. At the same time, I’d hope you’ll also remember the two singaporean soldiers killed on the ground in the crash. Being a conscripted singaporean soldier myself, I feel it is tragic that their bright futures were cut short so aburptly. Having to give 2 years of our life at our prime to serve the nation is something all singaporean males must do, but giving your life in the process is truely tragic. It is not that I am blaming the pilots, just that I’d hope you do not forget these servicemen too. 23:01
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: 5371 - Mixed Feelings
Beijing2008 said… This is going to be amazing. Hold in there man, we’re waiting and counting on you! =D 11:28
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: TVBS Backs Out
Michael Turton said… The pilots got promoted one rank each, the China Post reported that Chen announced it today. Michael 15:34
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: TVBS Backs Out
Anonymous said… My other half flew F-5s for many years in Canada and Germany. I’ve been following your story with interest. May the sorrow you feel and the responsibility you hold be wisely measured to what a human can endure. It’s 2 am - am I making much sense.16:01
The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan: TVBS Backs Out
Thanks to all who have taken the time to comment! Remember, commenting helps other readers too.
technorati tags:5371, comments, roundup
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The traffic that our blog has been experiencing is nothing short of phenomenal. We have hundreds of viewers at a time. Total page views are over 100,000. We’ve had over 17,458 page views today alone.
When I release the final story about 5371 and I talk about everything I saw, did and felt on that day, I am afraid that the volume of traffic may seriously overload the server where the blog is hosted.
Therefore I am releasing 2 more photos now, so that everyone may look at them before I release the story.
Although it may seem insignificant, the tip of the whip antenna at the bottom of the photo allows us to know the bearing from the Point of Origin (where the photo was taken from). Thus, we can calculate the altitude and position of 5371. This photo is #4 in the series.
This photo has a Stationary Point of Reference also - a television antenna. We were able to measure the size of the antenna and use it to calculate the altitude of and position of 5371 when this photo was taken. This photo is #6 in the series.
The next shots that I release will show the shocking truth about what happened to 5371.
technorati tags:5371, Taiwan, Hukou, Hsinchu, Airforce, accident, crash, heroes, investigation, jet, military
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I want to thank everyone for their comments. The overwhelming response has been so positive. I can’t believe how kind all our readers have been. Some have said that I treat Taiwan as my homeland and that I am now considered to be a Taiwanese. I cannot think of a greater honor, thank you.
Our blog has gone from around 16,000 page views on May 14th, to now well over 60,000. According to Meebo, there are upwards of 500 people viewing our blog at the same time, so please be patient because it will be slow!
Speaking of Meebo, there are so many comments being left that I cannot possibly keep up with them. So please leave your comments on the blog and I will answer every one. If I am online we may be able to have a quick chat, but if I don’t answer you, then please post your comments. The blog is now open to anyone to make a comment, not just Blogger.com members.
Thank you everyone.
technorati tags:Taiwan, new, 5371, newspaper, article, comments
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UPDATE: 5/21 17:51: Here is the link to the online article. Please visit this link so the newspaper can know how important this story is. [hat tip Tim Maddog]
Here is Michael Turton’s account of the interview.
We’ve made yahoo: http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070519/2/el4p.html
CORRECTION TO THE UDN ARTICLE:
The correct designation of the aircraft is 5371 (the article transposed the 3 and 7)
My Chinese name is not a transliteration. It was given to me by my family.
Our friends at The Solemn Observer have provided us with an English language translation of the article which you will find at the bottom. Thank you so much!
Yesterday evening Hui-chen and I met with Ms. Mimi Wang, and her associate Mr. Huang, for an interview. As everyone knows I was a witness to the final moments before the crash.
Ms. Wang and Mr. Huang are consummate professionals, putting up with my sometimes emotional reactions to their questions. I want to thank them for the opportunity to tell my story to the press. Here is a scan of the article, which appears on page C2:
In the photo, I’m using my notebook computer to show an enlarged view of 5371 (using Gwenview under openSUSE) to the United Daily News reporters.
English Translation:
Last 13 Seconds of F5F Captured by American Businessman
“Even for just 13 seconds, I now feel responsible for them,” says MJ Klein, a Hukou resident who captured on camera the last 13 seconds of the ROCAF F-5F, designated 5371, on May 11th. Every time he looked at the pictures, “it felt like the pilots were looking at me, hoping for me to do something for them.” Klein has great admiration for the bravery of the two pilots, who sacrificed themselves in order to prevent the crashing of their doomed fighter in a densely populated area. He will soon publish this “Last 13 seconds” in his blog.
51-year old Klein is an amateur photographer whose home is a mere one kilometer away from the Hukou airbase. The F-5F photographs released by the ROC air force a few days ago were taken by Klein.
Klein says he heard the sounds of helicopters and jet fighters on the morning of May 11th, and promptly rushed to the roof with his camera, awe-struck by the number of assets exercising in the airspace.
As he paid close attention to one such fighter that approached the eastern side of the Hukou airbase from the Taiwan Strait and then left from the same vector, there was a sudden loud noise from his rear left, and he turned his head to find another jet flying past his left in close proximity; it felt as though he could almost touch it.
He immediately switched the camera to manual, and locked onto the direction of the fighter, taking burst shots. Through his viewfinder, he saw the fighter climb, bank right, bank left, pitch down, and then suddenly took a nosedive; he followed it until his view was blocked by the building in front of him; he took 23 photos in 13 seconds. [Note: I kept my lens in manual focus mode because autofocus is too slow for aircraft - MJ]
He silently exclaimed, “My god, it crashed,” but he never heard the expected loud bang, and he relaxed, thinking that he had just witnessed a highly-trained pilot performing sophisticated aerobatics manoeuvre. But after an hour, he heard the news that a plane had indeed crashed, and he desperately wondered if it had been the one he witnessed. Worried about the lives of the pilots, he continually sought for any evidence that would link what he’d witnessed to the reports, and when his wife informed him of the designation number of the crashed plane and it matched the one he caught on camera, his face went white and he took a deep breath, his mood sank to rock bottom. [Note: I used the term "my blood went cold" but that isn't well understood in the Chinese language. - MJ]
Now, whenever he looked at the photographs, he’d feel that in one of the photos, the pilots were looking at him, and he’d feel some sort of responsibility to them and the need to do something for these two brave souls.
He has posted his experience and records during these 13 seconds on his blog, “The New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan”. The web address is http://thenhbushman.blogspot.com/
technorati tags:Taiwan, Hukou, Hsinchu, UDN, uniteddailynews, 5371, newspaper, interview
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TheNHBushman.com is using WP-Gravatar
