Russian jet arrives to salvage US spy plane

A huge Russian cargo plane on a mission to carry home a dismantled US Navy spy plane arrived today on the Chinese island of Hainan.

The Antonov 124 landed at the Lingshui air base, where the EP-3E Aries II has been parked since making an emergency landing on April 1 after a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet.

The AN-124 landed at about 11.17am (4.17am BST) under clear skies, the thunderous roar of its jet engines shattering the morning quiet.

The Russian plane arrived from Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

Plans call for the EP-3E to be dismantled and loaded in pieces on two Antonovs. The US military has refused to say when the second plane is to arrive.

Security at the Lingshui air base was tight. Police blocked the road leading to the base, and patrol cars drove up and down the main street that passes the site.

There was no sign of an American team of diplomats and technicians sent to this tropical island in the South China Sea to prepare for the retrieval of the EP-3E.

The plane has been the focus of intense diplomatic activity since the April 1 collision, which is believed to have killed the Chinese fighter pilot.

China held the 24 American crew members for 11 days as it tried to compel Washington to apologise for the incident. The US government called the collision an accident, and has blamed the Chinese pilot.

Dismantling and loading the EP-3E onto the Russian planes is expected to take nearly a month. The US Navy has said work should be finished by July 11.

China rejected a US proposal to repair the plane and fly it home, apparently hoping to punish Washington by forcing it to destroy its aircraft in order to retrieve it.