Return to Transcripts main page

Breaking News

Crew of Plane Detained by China Heads Home

Aired April 12, 2001 - 05:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MARINA KAMIMURA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... crew of the EP-3 surveillance plane. That trip is said to be about eight to nine hours to Hickam Air Force Base, in Hawaii, take takeoff following about a five-hour stop here at the Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam. That follows their commercial flight out of Hainan Island. That happened this morning, local time. They touched down here early in the afternoon. The crew members then were bussed off to some quarters on the base, where they were able to make those phone calls home, as well as take a bit of a break -- shower, wash off, and just have some private time to themselves.

Personnel, however, had prepared medical staff to be on standby should any needs arise, although, all in all, from what we can gather, the crew looked in pretty good shape and very good spirits and were very happy to be heading home.

JASON CARROLL, CNN ANCHOR: I know that you do have limited access there, but again, can you give us any sense of how the crew is doing out there?

KAMIMURA: Well, it seems to be pretty good. According, for instance, to the Continental flight crew that serviced them -- there were 11 of them on board helping out these crew members when they came out of Hainan -- the crew was in great spirits. When they were told that they were back in international airspace, a big cheer erupted on board. The crew members were very animated, glad to be heading home, and very relieved.

Also, that they were very hungry was one of the comments that we got; they were gobbling up the American food served on the plane. And all in all, they just seemed in fairly good condition, which is what we had been hearing, of course, from the few American diplomats who had been allowed to see the crew members when they were detained in Hainan.

CARROLL: Maria, thanks very much.

It's good to hear that the crew is doing well under dangerous circumstances.

Thanks again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com