U.S. crew member says Chinese officials warned of trial

During the U.S. crew's captivity, Lt. j.g. Jeffery Vignery said, he never doubted "we would be coming home"

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A freed U.S. Navy crew member said Sunday that while he and his colleagues were being detained by Chinese authorities, they were told they might have to stand trial.

Lt. j.g. Jeffery Vignery told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Chinese told him a decision on a trial would be based on an initial investigation into the April 1 collision between his U.S. Navy surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.

Speaking the day after an emotional reunion with their families on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, co-pilots Vignery and Lt. Patrick Honeck , also appearing on "Meet the Press," said that Chinese authorities appeared to want different things at different times.

Initially, Honeck said, they wanted information regarding the collision. Later, he said, "They asked about different things related to the mission," but the 24 crew members disclosed only information they believed would help the Chinese investigate the accident, he said.

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Honeck also said the Chinese pressed the crew for an apology, which the servicemen and women refused to give.

Once on the ground after the collision, the crew members were "ecstatic about being alive," Vignery said.

Honeck said the crew saw armed Chinese soldiers outside the plane but that they did not storm the aircraft.

"Some of the soldiers did have guns, but nobody pointed them at us ... It wasn't a very threatening situation at all," Honeck said.

During their captivity, Vignery said, he never doubted "we would be coming home."

Asked whether he wanted the Chinese to return the $80 million plane, which remains impounded on China's Hainan Island, Honeck said that was a matter for government leaders to decide.

"I don't personally have an emotional attachment to it," he said. "We got here on a wing and a prayer, and the airplane held up through the ordeal and I was glad for that, but what they decide to do with it remains to be seen."

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