An airliner carrying 24 crew members of a U.S. spy plane held for 12 days in China took off today, ending a tense standoff after President Bush said the United States was “very sorry” for a Chinese pilot’s death and the U.S. plane’s landing without permission. The chartered Continental Boeing 737 took off at about 7:30 a.m. local time from the civilian airport at Haidou, the capital of Hainan island. U.S. officials said the plane will take the crews to the U.S. territory of Guam to retrieve the 21 men and three women, who landed their damaged U.S. Navy EP –3E from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station on Hainan after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet on April 1 over the South China Sea.

The collision shattered the tail fin of the Chinese F-8 fighter, which spiraled out of control toward the sea, Chinese state media have said. The pilot, Wang Wei, was seen bailing out but is missing and presumed dead. After announcing it would release the crew, the Chinese government said it would keep the surveillance plane until it could hold more talks with the United States starting April 18. The crew’s release came after President Bush agreed to say the United States was “very sorry” for the Chinese pilot’s death and the U.S. plane’s landing without permission.

Peninsula Daily News, April 15, 2001, Section A