The jet's tail clipped the EP-3E's left propeller, the official said, sending the fighter plunging into the South China Sea.

Most of the bullets chewed into the left propeller, breaking off huge pieces and throwing them in all directions.

The damage to Hood was limited to her left outer propeller and an 18-inch (460 mm) dent, although some hull plates were knocked loose from the impact.

In Monday's crash, the problem occurred with the left propeller.

On the third pass, Lieutenant Osborn said, the Chinese jet nicked the American plane's left propeller and nose, which sent the jet spiraling into the ocean.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that part of a blade had snapped off the left propeller of the Embraer 120 Brasilia aircraft.

The DC-4 was cut in half by the left propeller of the P-38 just forward of the trailing edge of the wing.

The left propeller was not only dead, he said, but set flat, rather than feathered - meaning that it created drag.

At about 5 miles out, the flight crew notified Albany Approach Control that they were trying to perform an emergency 'feathering' of the left propeller.

The back of Andrea Doria rose, and its left propeller lifted out of the water.