The remaining parts of the US spy plane stranded on the southern island of Hainan for the past three months were airlifted out of China today, a US navy official said.
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US EP-3 surveillance plane
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"The aircraft in its entirety as well as all the equipment that was involved in its removal has left," said Commander John Fleming at US Pacific Command in Hawaii.
Commander Fleming said the fuselage of the EP-3 surveillance aircraft, which has been taken apart over the past 18 days, was flown out of Lingshui airbase on Hainan at 0940 GMT in an Antonov 124 cargo plane.
The Antonov has made several flights over the past few days to Kadena Airbase on the Japanese island of Okinawa carrying damaged parts of the EP-3 such as the wings and tail which were broken up and put into shipping containers.
However, the final Antonov flight with the bulk of the plane is headed for Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia, where the EP-3's manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. has a factory.
The US navy surveillance plane had been stuck on the runway at Lingshui airbase since April 1, when it made an emergency landing following a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet.
The 24-member crew of the US plane was held for 11 days following the collision and released only after the United States said it was "very sorry" for the loss of the Chinese pilot and for landing without permission.
Both sides blamed each other for the collision in international airspace over the South China Sea, just over 100 kilometres (62 miles) off the Chinese coast.
China refused US requests to repair the plane and fly it off the island, but agreed in May to allow the aircraft to be disassembled and transported aboard the chartered Ukrainian-built cargo aircraft.
AFP