EP-3E Spy Plane Involved in 2001 Collision with Chinese J-8 Joins Pima Air and Space Museum | Aviation

The EP-3E, severely damaged, performed an unauthorized landing at Lingshui airfield triggering a diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and China.

Although the U.S. Navy has postponed the retirement of its last EP-3E Aries II aircraft, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 1 “World Watchers”—the primary operator of this signals intelligence platform since its inception (with VQ-2 “Sandeman,” which was disbanded in 2012, being the other)—has already retired some of its oldest airframes. Among them is BuNo 156511, the EP-3E involved in a collision with a Chinese Navy J-8 fighter jet on April 1, 2001, in what became known as the “Hainan Incident.”

That very EP-3E will soon be on public display at the Pima Air and Space Museum, where it arrived on October 22, 2024. The aircraft was in fact towed from the nearby “Boneyard” at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) and will undergo restoration before joining the museum’s collection.

The 2001 Hainan Incident

On April 1, 2001, the EP-3E 156511 of VQ-1 launched from Kadena Air Base, in Okinawa, Japan, on a routine electronic intelligence (ELINT) mission. Using radio callsign PR32, the aircraft flew over the South China Sea collecting signals intelligence from international airspace.

As the EP-3E was 5 hours into its mission, flying at an altitude of 22,000 feet and at 180 knots, it was…