Lockheed EP-3 - Notable Incidents

Notable Incidents

In April 2001 an aerial collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II, a signals reconnaissance version of the P-3C, and a People's Liberation Army Navy J-8IIM fighter resulted in an international incident between the United States and China. The J-8IIM crashed and its pilot was killed. The EP-3 came close to becoming uncontrollable, at one point sustaining a near inverted roll, but was able to make an emergency landing on Hainan. The crew and plane were subsequently detained by Chinese authorities, accused of "killing the Chinese pilot".

In prior years VQ-1 crews had standing orders that in case of attempted forcedown or in case of the possibility of a crash-landing the aircraft was to be intentionally crashed with all hands aboard in lieu of landing in unfriendly territory.

After several days, the crew was repatriated separately to the United States while the aircraft remained in China, reported taken apart for research on American technology. Although the crew attempted to destroy as much classified material, hardware and software on the aircraft prior to the emergency landing, there is little doubt that the EP-3 was exploited by Chinese intelligence services. An American team was later permitted to enter Hainan in order to dismantle the aircraft, which was subsequently airlifted back to United States for reassembly and repair.