The US crew was being debriefed in Hawaii, but initial interviews produced an account of a tense encounter with People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops after the crippled US plane landed at Hainan's Lingshui airbase.
"They estimated that it was about 15 minutes on the ground," a second senior diplomat said. "They were surrounded by heavily armed PLA soldiers who were making it clear to them in spite of the language difference that they wanted them off the plane."
The second diplomat declined to specify how much of the sensitive US electronic eavesdropping equipment and software was destroyed before the crew was forced to leave the plane.
"They did so in danger because the Chinese were trying to get them to stop completing their procedures," he said. The PLA soldiers drew their guns, but did not fire, he said.
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