Unlike the famous U-2 spy plane with a thin pencil-shaped body and wingspan so long it needs wheels at the end of the wings to take off, the EP-3 is a four-engine turboprop that is used to intercept electronic communications on ships and land.

It has a nearly 100-foot (30-metre) wingspan, is about 106 feet (32 metres) long, and has 24 seats. It is capable of flying for more than 12 hours and has a more than 3,000-nautical mile range.

The normal crew is 24, which typically includes three pilots, one navigator, three tactical evaluators and one flight engineer, according to the Federation of American Scientists Web site, www.fas.org. The rest of the crew usually consists of equipment operators, technicians, and mechanics.

The first EP-3 joined the US fleet in 1969. It is a version of the P-3 aircraft that hunts mainly for submarines and conducts submarine reconnaissance and surveillance.

The EP-3 is a land-based aircraft with electronic intercept devices for detecting and tracking radars, radios and other communications. The plane has sensors, receivers and dish antennas that can gather a wide range of electronic emissions.

A US EP-3 plane bumped into one of two Chinese Air Force fighters Sunday morning in China's southern airspace, causing it to crash, with the fate of of the pilot remaining unknown.

At around 9:07 am Beijing time, when the two Chinese F8 military planes were conducting normal flight operations, the US spy plane suddenly veered towards it. The nose and left wing of the US plane hit the Chinese plane and caused it to crash, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao.

The EP-3 was about the size of a 737 and flew at about half the speed of the Chinese F-8 military planes.

China is now searching for the pilot, the spokesman said.

(China Daily, 04/02/2001)