The Last Patrol
Written originally for this site, based on public historical records.
The beginning was almost too ordinary to record: a foreign reconnaissance aircraft flying close to the waters southeast of Hainan Island, and Chinese fighters scrambling to track it as routine procedure. Such missions were not unusual in the South China Sea at the time; pilots treated them as everyday work.
On the morning of April 1, 2001, two J-8II fighters took off on exactly such a mission. Roughly 110 km southeast of Hainan Island, the U.S. EP-3E collided with one of them. The Chinese fighter crashed into the sea; its pilot, Wang Wei, ejected and was lost.
The damaged U.S. aircraft entered Chinese airspace without permission and made an emergency landing at Lingshui airfield on Hainan; its 24 crew members were taken into custody. After intensive diplomacy the crew departed on April 12, and the damaged aircraft was later dismantled and shipped home.
Over the following ten days and more, the waters of the South China Sea saw one of the largest search-and-rescue operations of its day. Ships, aircraft and civilian boats combed the sea for one man who had parachuted into the water. This is the part of the story most easily overlooked and most worth remembering: no one gave up looking for him.