U.S. personnel were expected to travel to Hainan, he added. The collision, which killed the pilot of the Chinese fighter, caused the worst U.S.-China tensions since NATO aircraft bombed China's embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999 during the air war over Kosovo. U.S. officials had wanted to repair the plane and fly it out, but China said that was impossible because the plane had been eavesdropping on the Chinese military and landed on Chinese territory without permission. China accused the U.S. plane of causing the accident and held the 24-member crew on Hainan until President Bush approved a letter xpressing regret over the loss of the Chinese pilot and the U.S. plane's unauthorized landing. The plane's crew, based at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station near Oak Harbor, Wash., destroyed much of the sensitive information and high-tech eavesdropping equipment on board.
China is believed to have removed and studied on board equipment.
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