Hi,
I was searching the web for articles about the Destroyer Escort my father sailed on during the Korean War and came across your web site.  The entry regarding the USS McGinty, DE-365 had a statement before it saying that there were conflicting reports regarding the type of aircraft that went down.  My father, John F. Porterfield was a medical corpsman on the McGinty and was in fact the person who rescued the pilot.  I remember Dad talking about the incident on several occasions and each time he recounted the story he referred to the aircraft as being a Panther.  He seemed to be pretty clear about the whole thing, even remembering how horribly cold the water was (he had to go in the drink after the pilot who had been overcome by hyperthermia and was drowning).  The pilot stayed aboard for a few days until they were able to transfer him to another ship, and during that time he bunked and messed with my Dad.  Dad recounted to me the conversations he and the pilot shared during the pilot’s time on the ship, and it was apparently the pilot himself who told dad that the aircraft was a Panther. Unfortunately I cannot get you a first hand account, as my father died in 2003.