| Hainan Island incident | |||||||
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 The damaged EP-3 on the ground on Hainan Island. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  China | ||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
| 1EP-3Esignals intelligence aircraft | 2Shenyang J-8II aircraft | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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TheHainan Island incident was a ten-dayinternational incident between theUnited States and thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) that resulted from a mid-air collision between aUnited States NavyEP-3E ARIES IIsignals intelligence aircraft and aPeople's Liberation Army Air ForceJ-8 interceptor on April 1, 2001.
The EP-3 was flying over the South China sea at a point roughly midway betweenHainan Island and theParacel Islands when it was intercepted by two J-8II fighters. A collision between the EP-3 and one of the J-8s caused damage to the EP-3 and the loss of the J-8 and its pilot. The EP-3 was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan without permission from the PRC, and its 24 crew members were detained and interrogated by Chinese authorities until a statement was delivered by theUnited States government regarding the incident. The ambiguous phrasing of the statement allowed both countries to save face and defused a potentially volatile situation.[1][2]
This sea area includes theSouth China Sea Islands, which are claimed by the PRC and several other countries. It is a strategically sensitive area.[3]
The United States and the People's Republic of China disagree on the legality of the overflights by U.S. naval aircraft of the area where the incident occurred. This part of theSouth China Sea comprises part of the PRC's exclusive economic zone based on theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Chinese claim that the Paracel Islands belong to China. This claim was acknowledged by Vietnam in 1958 but it has since reversed itself to contest the claim after the end of theVietnam War in 1975. The United States remains neutral in this dispute, but patrols the sea regularly with naval ships and airplanes, during what it termsfreedom of navigation operations. The PRC interprets the convention as allowing it to preclude other nations' military operations within this area, but the United States does not recognize China's claim for the Paracel Islands and maintains that the Convention grants free navigation for all countries' aircraft and ships, including military aircraft and ships, within a country's exclusive economic zone.[4] Although the United States is not party to UNCLOS, it has accepted and complies with nearly all of the treaty's provisions.[5]
A PRCSukhoi Su-27 force is based at Hainan.[6] The island also houses a largesignals intelligence facility that tracks civil and military activity in the area and monitors traffic from commercial communications satellites.[7] The United States has long kept the island under surveillance; on May 22, 1951, for example,RAFSpitfire PR Mk 19s based at Hong Kong'sKai Tak Airport flewphoto-reconnaissance missions at the behest of U.S. naval intelligence.[8]
On April 1, 2001, the EP-3 (BuNo156511), assigned to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1, "World Watchers"), had taken off as Mission PR32 fromKadena Air Base inOkinawa, Japan. At about 9:15 a.m. local time, toward the end of the EP-3's six-hourELINT mission, it was flying at 22,000 feet (6,700 m) and 180 knots (210 mph; 330 km/h), on a heading of 110°, about 70 miles (110 km) away from the island. Two Chinese J-8s from Hainan's Lingshui airfield approached. One of the J-8s (81194),[9] piloted byLt. Cdr. Wang Wei,[10][11] made two close passes to the EP-3. On the third pass, it collided with the larger aircraft. The J-8 broke into two pieces; the EP-3'sradome detached completely and its No. 1 (outer left) propeller was damaged severely. Airspeed and altitude data were lost, the aircraft depressurized, and an antenna became wrapped around thetailplane. The J-8's tail fin struck the EP-3's leftaileron, forcing it fully upright, and causing the U.S. aircraft to roll to the left at three to four times its normal maximum rate.[3][12]
The impact sent the EP-3 into a 30° dive at a bank angle of 130°, almost inverted. It dropped 8,000 feet (2,400 m) in 30 seconds, and fell another 6,000 feet (1,800 m) before the pilot,Lt.Shane Osborn, got the EP-3's wings level and the nose up.[13] In a September 2003 article inNaval Aviation News, Osborn said that once he regained control of the aircraft, he "called for the crew to prepare to bail out".[12][13] He then managed to control the aircraft's descent by using emergency power on the working engines, allowing him to plan an emergency landing on Hainan.[14]
For the next 26 minutes, the crew of the EP-3 performed an emergency plan which included destroying sensitive items aboard the aircraft, such as electronic equipment related to intelligence-gathering, documents and data. Part of this plan involved pouring freshly brewed coffee into disk drives and motherboards and using an axe from the plane's survival kit to destroy hard drives.[15] The crew had not been formally trained on how to destroy sensitive documents and equipment, and so improvised. As a result of the destruction, the plane's interior was later described as resembling "the aftermath of a frat party".[12]
Osborn made an unauthorized emergency landing at Lingshui airfield, after at least 15distress signals had gone unanswered, with theemergency code selected on thetransponder. It landed at 170 knots (200 mph; 310 km/h), with noflaps, notrim, and a damaged leftelevator, weighing 108,000 pounds (49,000 kg). After the collision, the failure of the nose cone had disabled the No. 3 (inner right) engine, and the No. 1 propeller could not befeathered, resulting in increased drag on that side. There was no workingairspeed indicator oraltimeter, and Osborn used full right aileron during the landing. The surviving Chinese interceptor had landed there 10 minutes earlier.[16]
Wang was seen to eject after the collision, but the Pentagon said that the damage to the underside of the EP-3 could mean that the cockpit of the Chinese fighter jet was crushed, making it impossible for the pilot to survive.[17][18] Wang's body was never recovered, and he was presumed dead.
Both the cause of the collision and the assignment of blame were disputed:
Neither claim can be verified since theChinese government did not release data from theflight recorders of either aircraft, both of which are in its possession.[21][22][23][24][25]
For 15 minutes after landing, the EP-3 crew continued to destroy sensitive items and data on board the aircraft, as per protocol. They disembarked from the aircraft after soldiers looked through windows, pointed guns and shouted through bullhorns. The Chinese offered them water and cigarettes. Guarded closely, they were taken to a military barracks atLingshui where they were interrogated for two nights before being moved to lodgings inHaikou, the provincial capital and largest city on the island. They were generally treated well. However, they were interrogated at all hours and thus suffered from lack of sleep. They found the Chinese food unpalatable as it included fish heads, but this later improved. Guards gave them decks of cards and an English-language newspaper. To pass the time and keep spirits up, Lts. Honeck and Vignery worked up humorous routines based on the television showsThe People's Court,Saturday Night Live, andThe Crocodile Hunter. These were performed as they went to meals, the only time they were together. They gradually developed good relations with their guards, with one guard inquiring of them the lyrics for the song "Hotel California" by theEagles.[26]
Three U.S. diplomats were sent to Hainan to meet the crew, assess their conditions and to negotiate the crew's release. The diplomats were first allowed to meet with the crew three days after the incident. U.S. officials complained about China's delays in this regard.[27]
The 24 crew members (21 men and 3 women)[28] were detained for 10 days in total and were released soon after the U.S. issued the "letter of the two sorries" to the Chinese. The crew was only partially successful in their destruction of classified material. Some of the material they failed to destroy includedcryptographic keys,signals intelligence manuals, and the names ofNational Security Agency employees.[12] Some of the captured computers contained detailed information for processing PROFORMA communications fromNorth Korea,Russia,Vietnam,China, and other countries.[12] The plane also carried information on the emitter parameters for U.S.-alliedradar systems worldwide.[12] China also discovered that the United States could trackPeople's Liberation Army Navysubmarines via signal transmission.[12]
The "Letter of the two sorries"[29] was the letter delivered by the United States AmbassadorJoseph Prueher toForeign MinisterTang Jiaxuan of the People's Republic of China to end the incident. Upon delivery of the letter, China released the detained crew and eventually returned the disassembled aircraft.[21] The letter stated that the United States was "very sorry" for the death of Chinese pilot Wang Wei (王伟) and was "very sorry" the aircraft entered China's airspace, additionally apologizing because its landing did not have "verbal clearance".[30] The United States stated that it was "not a letter of apology"–as then characterized by state-owned Chinese media outlets–but that instead it was "an expression of regret and sorrow".[2] China had originally asked for an apology, but the U.S. explained, "We did not do anything wrong, and therefore it was not possible to apologize".[31]
There was further debate over the exact meaning of the Chinese translation issued by the U.S. Embassy. A senior administration official was quoted as saying "What the Chinese will choose to characterize as an apology, we would probably choose to characterize as an expression of regret or sorrow".[32]General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyJiang Zemin accepted the expression of "very sorry" as consistent with the formal apology that China had sought, and so China released the Americans thereafter.[33]
The crew of the EP-3 was released on April 11, 2001, and returned to their base atWhidbey Island viaHonolulu, Hawaii, where they were subject to two days of debriefings.[21] The pilot, Lt.Shane Osborn, was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for "heroism and extraordinary achievement" in flight. The J-8B pilot, Wang Wei, was posthumously honored in China as a "Guardian of Territorial Airspace and Waters".[21] His widow received a personal letter of condolence from US PresidentGeorge W. Bush.[34]
U.S. Navy engineers said the EP-3 could be repaired in 8–12 months,[35] but China refused to allow it to be flown off Hainan island. The disassembled aircraft was released on July 3, 2001, and was returned to the United States by the Russian airlinePolet Flight in twoAntonov An-124 Ruslans.[36][37] Repairs were performed at Lockheed Martin inMarietta, Georgia, for reassembly and to make it flightworthy again. The aircraft was then flown toL3 inWaco, Texas for missionization as they were the main provider of EP-3 maintenance and modernization at the time.[38] The aircraft returned to duty prior to 2013.[39] The plane has since been retired and is on display as a museum piece.
In addition to paying for the dismantling and shipping of the EP-3, the United States paid US$34,567 for the 11 days of food and lodging supplied by the Chinese government to the aircraft's crew.[40] The Chinese had demanded one million dollars compensation from the U.S. for the lost J-8 and their pilot, but this was refused without further negotiations.
The incident occurred ten weeks after George W. Bush's presidential inauguration and was his first foreign policy crisis. Both countries were criticized after the event: the Chinese for making a bluff which was called without any real concessions from America other than the "Letter of the two sorries"; and the U.S. first for being insensitive immediately after the event and later for issuing the letter rather than being more oppositional.[41] The United States tried to be conciliatory in order to try to avoid Chinese objections to U.S. foreign policy, which became more important after theSeptember 11 attacks and at the beginning of thewar on terror.[42]
Among the Chinese public, the incident creatednegative feelings towards the United States and increased feelings ofChinese nationalism.[33] Despite the fact that the destroyed aircraft carried the serial number 81194, footage of Lt Cdr Wang Wei piloting airplane J-8B bearing serial number 81192 in a similar incident earlier in the year was popularized and became a national icon for both the PLANAF and the Chinese nation.[43]
After the collision, China briefly lessened aggressiveness in monitoring of reconnaissance flights.[44] Flights of U.S. surveillance aircraft near the Chinese coastline continued as before the incident.[45][46]
Hainan is currently the home of thePeople's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)Hainan Submarine Base, an underground facility capable of supporting nuclearballistic missile submarines.[47] During March 2009, Chinese ships and aircraft approached theUSNSImpeccable, anocean surveillance ship of the U.S. Navy while operating 75 miles (121 km) south of Hainan. Pentagon officials characterized the actions as "aggressive" and "harassment".[48][49] In August 2014, the U.S. protested when a ChineseShenyang J-11BH came within 10 meters (30 ft) of a patrollingBoeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft and performed aerobatic maneuvers including a barrel roll.[50] In May 2016, the U.S. protested when two Shenyang J-11BH aircraft reportedly came within 15 meters (50 ft) of a U.S. EP-3 on "a routine" patrol approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of Hainan Island. China responded by demanding an end to U.S. surveillance near China.[51]
After being returned to service, 156511 was transferred to VQ-1 in 2012, and on October 21, 2024, it was retired toDavis-Monthan Air Force Base and 3 days later moved toPima Air and Space Museum for display.
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