[EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft] "81192 received, I can no longer return home, you keep going, you keep going!" Countless people remember that there is a number, called "81192"; there is a hero , Called Wang Wei. On April 1, 2001, Wang Wei drove a J-8B fighter plane and collided with the US EP-3 reconnaissance plane in the airspace of about 100 kilometers on Hainan Island.
[EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft to be dismantled] After the plane collision incident, the tail wing of the J-8B fighter plane broke off, the fighter plane crashed into the sea, and Wang Wei fell into the sea and died. In contrast, the EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft suffered head damage and forced a forced landing at Hainan Lingshui Naval Airport. After many negotiations between China and the United States, it was finally decided that under our supervision, the United States would disassemble the EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft and transport it back to the United States.
[Removing the huge engine] EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft, the full name is EP-3 electronic reconnaissance aircraft, it is an electronic warfare modification of the US P-3 anti-submarine aircraft. The reconnaissance aircraft has 24 fixed seats, 19 of which are used by the crew. The flight time exceeds 12 hours and the range exceeds 5,400 kilometers. After the plane collision incident, when the pilot made an emergency landing on Hainan Island, the plane was in chaos. There were torn documents, ripped tapes, cockpit monitors and other electronic equipment, which were all deliberately damaged.
[Disassembly site] According to the arrangement of the United States, the disassembly of the EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft will be completed on July 4 of that year. On July 11, the United States rented two Russian An-124 transport planes to load the disassembled reconnaissance aircraft fuselage, wings, and 40 American technicians to leave Hainan Island. At that time, all the dismantling work by the United States was carried out under our supervision. .
[The huge tail was removed] The author checked the data and found that after the Sino-US plane collision incident, China and the United States have always had great differences on how to deal with the US reconnaissance plane. The situation has remained stalemate. On May 28, China and the United States respectively confirmed that “the two countries have reached agreement in principle on the issue of the US sending a commercial aircraft to transport the disassembled EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft back to the United States.”
[The fuselage is loaded into the An-124 transport aircraft] "We hope to choose such a method: to disturb (China) as little as possible, and use the least time, financial, manpower and material resources to repair the aircraft until it can take off safely. "This is the speech made by Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, the spokesperson of the US Pentagon at the time, during the plane collision incident.
[Huge engine] We don’t know the many details of the negotiation, but at that time, the United States said many times, “If China still does not accept our approach, we have other options. This is the purpose of our continued negotiations with them. Of course, our idea is to allow the reconnaissance aircraft to fly back intact, which is of great significance."
[The huge fuselage is loaded into the security -124 Transport Aircraft] The US government hoped to repair the damage to the reconnaissance aircraft in Hainan, but it flew back to the United States on its own, but was rejected by the Chinese government. After China and the United States agreed to dismantle the reconnaissance aircraft, the United States had its own ideas, "The next option is to dismember the aircraft as little as possible. In other words, we remove its biplanes and part of the tail, and then install them and the aircraft itself. A large cargo plane. If possible, after returning the plane to our country, we may install the wings and tail.”
[Various parts are loaded into An-124 transport aircraft] information It shows that the United States sent a total of 12 technicians to take care of the dismantling of the aircraft. All the work lasted for 14 days, and it was all finished on June 29 of that year. While the reconnaissance plane was being dismantled, the US military hired an An-124 transport plane to transport the parts back to the United States in batches.
[Reconnaissance aircraft crew (24 people) returned to China] When the reconnaissance aircraft members returned to the United States, they received a high-level reception. First of all, the then U.S. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld will host a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to award medals to 24 crew members.Recognize them for their safe landing on Hainan Island after the collision and 11 days of being stranded thereafter. In addition, the pilot of the reconnaissance plane Osborne will be awarded the highest honor Flying Cross.
