On the morning of April 1, 2001, a U.S. military surveillance plane approached China's airspace south-east of China's island province of Hainan, and two Chinese military airplanes tracked it. At 9:07 a.m., 104-km southeast of Hainan Island, the U.S. plane suddenly turned towards the Chinese airplanes, resulting in its bumping into and damaging one of the two Chinese airplanes. The Chinese side is very much concerned about the missing Chinese pilot from the crashed airplane, and is busy searching for his whereabouts. Without permission from the Chinese side, the U.S. surveillance plane intruded into China's airspace and made an emergency landing at Lingshui Airport in Hainan at 9:33 a.m.

It was normal and in accordance with international practice for Chinese military airplanes to track the U.S. surveillance plane over China's water areas. The direct cause of the damage and crash of the Chinese airplane was that the U.S. plane suddenly veered into the Chinese jet, which was against flight rule. Therefore, the U.S. side should bear all the responsibility arising therefrom. The Chinese side has made solemn representations and protested to the U.S. side and China reserves its right to make further representations with the U.S. side on the losses caused by the incident.

The Chinese side has so far made proper arrangements for all the 24 crew members on board the U.S. plane. China reserves the right to make further representations with the U.S. side on the U.S. plane's intrusion into China's airspace and landing at the Chinese airport without permission.