Hainan Island incident

The Hainan Island incident occurred on April 1, 2001, when a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese J-8II interceptor jet collided in mid-air, resulting in an international dispute between the United States and China (PRC).

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.
DateApril 1, 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

  • Lt. Shane Osborn

Jiang Zemin

  • Lt. Cdr. Wang Wei †
Strength
1 EP-3E signals intelligence aircraft 2 J-8IM 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 EP-3 was operating about 70 miles (110 km) away from the PRC island province of Hainan, as well as about 100 miles (160 km) away from the China military installation in the Paracel Islands, when it was intercepted by two J-8 fighters. A collision between the EP-3 and one of the J-8s caused a PRC pilot to go missing (later presumed dead); the EP-3 was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan without approved permission from the Chinese authorities. The 24 crew members were detained and interrogated by Chinese authorities until a statement was delivered by the United States government regarding the incident. The exact phrasing of this document was intentionally ambiguous and allowed both countries to save face while defusing a potentially volatile situation between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

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