Spy plane collision: US blame Chinese jet’s ‘unsafe flying’

A collision between a United States Navy surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet was blamed by a top US officer today on a ‘‘pattern of increasingly unsafe behaviour’’ by China’s military in the South China Sea.

Admiral Dennis Blair, commander in chief of the US Pacific Command, criticised China in a news conference at Camp Smith in Honolulu, Hawii.

‘‘I must tell you that the intercepts by Chinese fighters over the past couple of months have become more aggressive to the point that we felt they were endangering the safety of the Chinese and American aircraft,’’ Blair said.

US military officials had ‘‘launched a protest at the working level’’ before Sunday’s incident, but did not receive a satisfactory response, he said.

‘‘We went to the Chinese and said your aircraft are not intercepting in a professional manner. There’s a situation here,’’ Blair said.

‘‘It’s not a normal practice to play bumpercars in the air,’’ he added.

The EP-3 surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet sent to intercept it over the South China Sea early Sunday and made an emergency landing in China.

The Chinese government said the fighter crashed and its pilot was missing.

The American plane landed at a military airfield on Hainan, a Chinese island.

Chinese officials assured the United States the crew members were safe.

But the United States has had no contact with the 24-member crew since they reported landing safely with no injuries, Blair said.

‘‘We just don’t know’’ what has happened to them, Blair said.

If a Chinese plane were to make an emergency landing in Hawaii, the United States would put the crew in touch with its base and make arrangements for the repair and return of the aircraft.

‘‘We are waiting right now for the Chinese government to give us the kind of cooperation that is expected of countries in situations like this,’’ Blair said.

China blamed the US aircraft for the collision, but Blair said the larger, slower American plane was more likely to have been hit by the nimble Chinese fighter.

‘‘It’s pretty obvious who bumped who,’’ he said.

Sen. John Warner, a Republican from Virginia, chairman of the Senate Arms Service Committee, also blamed China’s military for the collision. He spoke after being briefed by the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington.

‘‘This is a tragic military accident that could have been avoided if Chinese pilots had respected the laws of international airspace.’’ he said.