http://www.boston.com/dailynews/184/world/U_S_flies_out_spy_plane_from_C:.shtml

U.S. flies out spy plane from China

By Associated Press, 7/3/2001 07:21

BEIJING (AP) The last parts of a U.S. Navy spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet, sparking a crisis in relations, were flown off southern China's Hainan island Tuesday, the U.S. Navy said.

The fuselage of the EP-3E and equipment used to dismantle the plane were packed onto a Russian-made Antonov 124 the largest cargo aircraft in the world and were being flown to Hawaii, with a stop in the Philippines for refueling, the U.S. Pacific Command said.

''The team completely has packed up and recovered all the parts and cleared the work site of all equipment used in the operation, and that all left with the AN-124,'' said Navy Chief Journalist Doug Holl of the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.

He said a 12-member team from the plane's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, would be leaving Hainan, where the spy plane made an emergency landing April 1.

''It couldn't have come any sooner,'' Holl said. ''We're all very pleased.''

He said the plane was being flown to a Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Ga., where it would be reassembled in preparation for a return to service. Other parts of the plane have already been taken to a U.S. base on Okinawa, Japan, Holl said.

The collision and China's 11-day detention of the 24 U.S. crew members caused the worst tensions between Beijing and Washington since the bombing of China's embassy in Yugoslavia by U.S. planes in 1999.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2001