On this day 20 years ago, a U.S. Navy EP-3E, BuNo 156511, assigned to VQ-1 collided with a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8 interceptor 110 km off Hainan island.
Staff Sgt. John A Giles, U.S. Marine Corps., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Lt. Cdr. Wang Wei, the J-8 pilot, was killed in the incident while all 24 crew members of the EP-3 landed at Lingshui airfield and were detained by China till Apr. 11.