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Crew Blames Crash on Jet
The Fighter Passed Under The Surveillance
Plane 3 Times Before Hitting It, Breaking Apart And Crashing Into The
Sea
HeraldNet
April 10, 2001
WASHINGTON - New information from U.S. crew members about the collision
of a Chinese jet fighter and a Navy surveillance plane shows the Americans
were not at fault, U.S. officials said Monday, stiffening Washington's
resolve in rebuffing Beijing's demands for an apology.
Interviews with the detained 24 crew members held on Hainan Island reveal
that Chinese pilot Wang Wei passed three times below the lumbering EP-3E
reconnaissance craft - once within 2 or 3 feet - before striking the
U.S. plane's left wing with the fighter's tail and plunging into the
sea, said Pentagon officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"That time he misjudged his flight path," one official said.
The force of the collision pushed the fighter in front of the EP-3E,
shearing off the U.S. plane's nose. The Chinese jet "broke in two pieces,"
and the resulting damage to the EP-3E's propellers and nose cone caused
it to drop 5,000 feet in an "uncontrolled" loss of altitude, the official
said.
The crew members' accounts belie Beijing's contention that the American
plane caused the accident by veering suddenly into the Chinese fighter,
U.S. officials said. Beijing has said Wang's flight partner, in a second
fighter jet, saw a shift in the U.S. plane's course and the subsequent
crash.
The Americans "were flying a straight and level course," said one Pentagon
official. "The swerving took place after he was hit," as the U.S. plane
banked left and downward when its pilot lost control.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Monday: "We stand
by our eyewitness account of the other Chinese pilot."
China repeated its demand for an apology on Monday, saying it is still
not satisfied with Washington's comments.
"Regrettably, the United States' statements are still unacceptable to
the Chinese people. We are highly unsatisfied," China's Foreign Ministry
spokesman Zhu Bang Zao said at a news conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"The United States should apologize and respond appropriately," Zhu
said. "If they don't, it's going to make things difficult. If they do,
it's going to help resolve the problem."
Bush has refused to apologize, though he expressed regret Friday for
the loss and presumed death of the pilot. Similar sentiments were contained
in a weekend letter from Bush to the pilot's widow, officials said.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. diplomats were
"at a sensitive moment" and were exchanging papers and ideas with their
Chinese counterparts.
Analysts fear the collision and its aftermath could damage U.S.-China
relations. But in recent days U.S. officials had hinted that an investigation
of the incident might cause them to soften their stance. Not anymore.
"The United States has nothing to apologize for," White House spokesman
Ari Fleischer said Monday, reaffirming the administration position.
"The United States has taken a careful look at this matter."
Pentagon officials said the new information came from U.S. crew members
who were debriefed in recent days by U.S. Embassy officials outside
the presence of Chinese officials.
The somewhat tougher administration stance came as intensive talks to
resolve the impasse continued in Beijing and President Bush repeated
warnings made over the weekend by his aides that U.S.-China relations
are at risk.
The president was not specific about potential harm to U.S.-Chinese
relations, but his advisers noted for a second straight day that support
for continuing normal trade relations with China was eroding in Congress.
"Diplomacy takes time," Bush said before a Cabinet meeting. "But there
is a point - the longer it goes - there is a point at which our relations
with China could become damaged."
In China, U.S. diplomats met with the American crew for the fourth time
Monday.
Brig. Gen. Neal Sealock, the military attache at the U.S. embassy in
Beijing, told reporters after the 40-minute meeting that the crew was
in "extremely high spirits" and that they were living in an air-conditioned
"hotel-like setting."
He said the visit confirmed that they were receiving e-mails, toiletries
and other provisions and were living in facilities similar to officers'
quarters.
U.S. Ambassador Joseph W. Prueher met twice in Beijing with Assistant
Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong in what a State Department official described
as "very intense discussions."
Prueher and other U.S. diplomats declined to discuss details of the
talks.
To see more of HeraldNet, or to subscribe, go to http://www.heraldnet.com
Copyright © 2001 HeraldNet. All Rights Reserved. |
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