Team heads for China to disassemble spy plane

From Andrea Koppel
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A team from Lockheed Martin Corp. is en route to Hainan Island and plans to begin disassembling the EP-3 surveillance plane in the next several days, two State Department officials told CNN Thursday. The officials said they expect the operation to last 30 days.

An advance team arrived at Lingshui airfield on Hainan Wednesday to lay the groundwork. For one, the team needs to ensure the Chinese provide electricity for the disassembly, an official said.

The team includes representatives of the U.S. military's Pacific Command, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and Lockheed Martin, the company that built the plane.

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The EP-3 surveillance plane has been on Hainan Island since April 1 when it made an emergency landing after a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet.

The incident led to a tense stand-off between the Bush administration and the Beijing government over the fate of the plane and its 24 American crew members. The crew was released after 11 days.

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Once the EP-3 has been disassembled it will be loaded onto a Lockheed Martin-leased Antonov 124, one of the world's largest planes, and will be flown back to the United States, an official said.