Hainan Island incident

For the earlier incident, see 1954 Cathay Pacific Douglas DC-4 shootdown.

Hainan Island incident

The damaged EP-3 on the ground on Hainan Island.
Date (2001-04-01) (2001-04-11)April 1–11, 2001
Location
Hainan Island, People's Republic of China, South China Sea
Result American crew detained, later released; one Chinese J-8 pilot MIA and presumed dead
Belligerents
 United States  China
Commanders and leaders

George W. Bush

Jiang Zemin

  • Lt. Cdr. Wang Wei †
Strength
1 EP-3E signals intelligence aircraft 2 Shenyang J-8II aircraft
Casualties and losses
  • 1 EP-3E damaged and captured
  • 24 aircrew captured and detained
  • 1 J-8 destroyed
  • 1 pilot missing, presumed dead

The Hainan Island incident was a ten-day international incident between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) that resulted from a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese Air Force J-8 interceptor on April 1, 2001.

The EP-3 was flying over the South China sea at a point roughly midway between Hainan Island and the Paracel 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 the United 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]

  1. ^ Tapper, Jake; Lindsey, Daryl; Montgomery, Alicia (April 13, 2001). "War of words". Salon. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  2. ^ Zhang, Hang (2001). "Culture and apology: The Hainan Island incident". World Englishes. 20 (3): 383–391. doi:10.1111/1467-971X.00222.