U.S. Briefed on Crippled Plane in China

U.S. military officials received detailed information Saturday from technicians who inspected a crippled U.S. Navy surveillance plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet last month.

A U.S. Pacific Command spokesman at Camp Smith on Oahu island said the briefing continued into the afternoon with no immediate end in sight.

The U.S. technical inspectors from Lockheed Martin Corp. arrived at Honolulu International Airport early Saturday, said a second Pacific Command spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Rex Totty.

The five-person civilian team evaluated its findings with other Lockheed officials in Atlanta by video-teleconference before meeting with military officials.

Adm. Dennis Blair, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, will review the findings and then send them to the Pentagon.

“They will forward recommendations on whether the aircraft can be repaired to a flyable state,” Totty said. “It is anticipated the recommendations from this command will be forwarded to the secretary of Defense sometime next week.”

It is not known how long the team will remain in Hawaii, but there were no plans for a media briefing, Totty said.

China is holding the Navy’s EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft on Hainan Island, where it made an emergency landing after the collision on April 1.

The plane was damaged in the incident, and its 24-member crew was held on the island for 11 days. Chinese officials released the crew after Washington said it was “very sorry” that the Chinese fighter pilot had died in the collision.