Crashed plane is 'fantastic windfall' for Chinese intelligence

The collision that started the spy plane crisis in China occurred after a Chinese F-8 interceptor flew directly below the US aircraft.

The US aircraft executed a banking manoeuvre to the left, sources said today.

The new details seem to explain Chinese claims that the US plane moved suddenly and triggered the accident.

After the plane landed, armed Chinese guards surrounded it and boarded it, escorting the Americans out at gunpoint.

A day after the crash, sources said, the People's Liberation Army dispatched a cargo plane loaded with men and technical equipment from Beijing to the base.

The men and equipment were sent to study the aircraft, the sources said, adding that Chinese soldiers later were seen by US intelligence satellites removing equipment from the plane.

US officials have told allies they "were fairly confident that the most sensitive data was destroyed" during the 26 minutes between the accident and an emergency landing on Hainan.

However, a Western source said after a briefing by US officials, that the arrival on Chinese soil of the EP-3 Is a "fantastic windfall" for China's military intelligence.

"Given the Chinese ability to reverse-engineer these types of things, the intelligence loss is pretty serious," he said.