When things go terribly wrong in a military aircraft and it departs from controlled flight, the pilot is trained to perform three tasks in quick succession: aviate, navigate, communicate. It is one of the first things military pilots are trained to do when their aircraft goes haywire. This training is pounded into every novice pilot until it becomes muscle memory. It applies no matter the situation.
• To aviate, the pilot works to regain control of the aircraft – that is more important than anything else. It includes avoiding catastrophic impact with the ground, a flight deck, another aircraft, or a body of water.
• To navigate, the pilot acts to make sure the aircraft safely maintains a new or recovered flight plan.
• Communication comes after reasonable and steady control is achieved. Only then will the pilot communicate about the aircraft, the incident, and the status of the mission. As a former USMC helicopter pilot explains in an online post:
“The general concept is … [i]f you aren’t flying the bird, nothing else matters. If you are flying the bird but don’t know where you are [or] are going, then nothing you can tell others matters.” https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/25685/do-military-pilots-have-a-phrase-like-aviate-navigate-communicate