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Li Tong is chief of staff at an aviation regiment under the Air Force of the PLA Shenyang Military Area Command. On a night training flight on Sept. 19, he detected a drop in the thrust of his aircraft. An in-flight shutdown could be lethal for a single fighter. At a height of 2,500 meters, the aircraft began to plummet, falling tens of meters a second. Li immediately reported to the command tower, altered his course, confirmed the fault and calmly made the necessary adjustments.
To remedy the situation, he held the control stick steadily, pressed the aircraft’s nose, and throttled down the engine to a stop. Using skills from hard daily training, Li completed these actions swiftly, smoothly and precisely. Though all seemed perfect for an air-start, he twice failed to restart the engine, and continued to fall without power.
After almost 2,000 total flying hours, Li saw death cross his path.
Li knew it was impossible to return to his base for a forced landing. The villages on the ground were familiar -- Li had to do something.
His comrades back at base were growing evermore worried. Everyone knew an under-powered fighter could crash at any time.
“Your speed and height?”
“Height 1500.”
“Give it one more shot, then eject.”
It was the first eject order Li had ever received.
The lights under the wings were particularly bright against the dark sky. At a height of 1,500 meters, any mistake might cause the aircraft to crash into a village.
“Head for no man’s land,” Li decided.
Sweeping to the left, Li avoided the villages and flew toward an uninhabited mountain, risking death himself.
The safe flight height above the mountain area was 1,900 meters. Li had to adjust the aircraft, but all his efforts ended in failure.
“Your height?”
“Height 1,000.”
“Eject.” The commander gave a second eject order, but Li Tong knew it was too soon as the village lights were still near.
Pressing down the control stick, Li saw more villages and made two more left turns.
“Aim the aircraft at the uninhabited area.”
“About to eject!”
Li adjusted course and pulled up two rings to eject from the cabin. At that moment, the height dropped to 351 meters. Emergency guidelines allowed pilots to eject after failing to restart at a height of 2,000 meters.
