Here is an excerpt from someone's accounting of the incident:
"Yesterday I was over in Cape Girardeau working on our 170 when a call came
in for an emergency diversion.
Basically, a King Air 200 was on route to Virginia from Arkansas when, at
27,000 feet, the left windshield shattered causing an immediate and rapid
decompression. Given your useful consciousness at this altitude is
measured in seconds, both pilots blacked out. (Fortunately, there were no
passengers on board).
Whether they initiated a rapid descent or lost control and ended up in a
steep dive is not known as the two pilots have little recollection of the
event both fading in and out of consciousness until shortly before landing.
They took turns, unintentionally, of waking up and blacking out and
fighting to regain control of the aircraft. One pilot stated "I remember
thinking we're in a spin and seeing that the airspeed was pegged beyond
indicated. I thought, wow, we're going too fast, reached up and pulled the
power to idle, then blacked out again".
Assume they were pretty much at terminal velocity headed straight down.
At 13,000 feet, (give or take), they started fighting to pull the aircraft
out of a dive. It took both of them. The stress on the airframe must have
been unreal, as you will see.
From that point, parts started leaving the aircraft until landing and they
lost control of pitch. They went almost vertical again and it took both
pilots pushing as hard as they could to get the aircraft to start
descending.
They regained some control around 7,000 feet and were close to cape where
they diverted.
It is fortunate that they did not have a tail stall as you will see, and I
have no earthly idea how they controlled pitch.
There is a God and sometimes he gets your attention to remind you how close
we could all be to standing before him. There is no way this aircraft
could have been flown and landed to a relatively uneventful landing and
they walk away. I cannot explain it and I think you will see what I mean
especially after viewing the empennage.
According to the radar, they lost 20,000 feet in roughly a minute and a
half.
The aircraft is totaled, but again, they taxied to the ramp. Waited a few
hours, and got a car and drove home.
Fortunately, the windscreen did not come in completely, but still should
have most likely been fatal at that altitude."
It sures seems like they weren't in line with any checklist I know of but, not being a King Air guy and not being there, I hesitate to throw too many stones.