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China names missing pilot

Wang Wei
Portrait of missing Chinese pilot Wang Wei  

In this story:

Lost control

'Utmost effort'

RELATED STORIES, SITES Downward pointing arrow


HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- China has released the name of a pilot who parachuted after his fighter collided with a U.S. spy plane.

It's been four days since pilot Wang Wei went missing after he ejected from the F-8 fighter jet following the collision with a much larger, propeller-powered U.S. EP-3 Aries II reconnaissance plane on Sunday morning.

Xinhua said Wang was an "an excellent squadron leader" of the Chinese Navy Air Force.

But China so far has not disclosed at what speed or altitude Wang was traveling when he ejected.

And Beijing has not said the wreckage of Wang's fighter has been located.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said the U.S. surveillance plane turned suddenly "in a big move" and hit Wang's fighter on the tail with its head and left wing after the two planes flew 400 meters parallel to each other.

Lost control

Wang Wei
Wang Wei was 'an excellent squadron leader'  

Wang ejected from his fighter that had lost control. Another F-8 fighter that had been accompanying Wang to follow the U.S. aircraft, returned to China safely, Zhu said.

The Navy has stepped up the search for Wang about 100km south-east of Hainan Island, off the south coast of mainland China, Xinhua said.

Until Tuesday afternoon, 29 ship patrols and 37 plane searches had been made to comb the South China Sea.

Xinhua said waves swelled to two to three meters for the past few days, making the search more difficult.

The Navy Commander Shi Yunsheng and Commissar Yang Huaiqing commanded the search, while leaders of South Sea Naval Fleet and Navy Air Force led the fleet and flew planes in person, according to Xinhua.

'Utmost effort'

Chinese President Jiang Zemin ordered the Navy to take "utmost effort" to rescue Wang.

Other leaders of the national military commission have telephoned the search team numerous times enquiring about the process, according to Xinhua.

Xinhua said the Navy and a sea rescue unit in Guangzhou in China's southern Guangdong province had dispatched the rescue fleet less than an hour after Wang ejected from his jet.



RELATED STORIES:
Navy crew struggled to land severely damaged plane
April 4, 2001
China declines U.S. search offer
April 3, 2001

RELATED SITES:
Xinhua News Agency
Chinese Foreign Ministry
EP-3E Aries II fact file

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