Collision course: US-China crash in the skies

The pilot Wang Wei was honored as a 'revolutionary martyr.'

A U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance aircraft carrying a crew of 24 collided with a Chinese fighter on April 1, 2001.

The U.S. plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Chinese soil at Lingshui, on the southern tip of Hainan Island, China. The Chinese fighter was lost in the South China Sea and the pilot has not been recovered.

The U.S. Navy plane was on an intelligence-gathering mission in international airspace when two Chinese F-8 fighters intercepted the flight.

One of the Chinese fighters collided with the nose of the U.S. plane, the fighter crashed into the South China Sea and the surveillance plane, its pilot struggling to keep it airborne, made an emergency landing on Hainan.

Chinese officials still blame the United States for the incident. The U.S. has accused China of intercepting the military aircraft in an "unsafe manner."

After China seized the plane and detained the crew, a tense 11-day standoff followed.

Diplomatic negotiations on recovering the U.S. plane dragged on as a series of fresh disputes brewed, including a U.S. pledge of arms sales to Taiwan, which China considers part of its sovereign territory, before the crew were eventually released.

Although China released the crew it kept the plane until later in the year, when a team from the U.S. was allowed to dismantle it.

After the incident, relations between the two countries cooled and military dialogue was suspended.

However, the situation has improved, beginning with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to China. That was followed by Beijing winning the right to host the 2008 Olympics, confirmation of China's entry into the World Trade Organization and U.S. President George W. Bush's presence at the APEC meeting in Shanghai.