Spy Crew Unable To Destroy Material
Updated: Thu, Apr 26 1:39 PM EDT
By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON AP) - The U.S. crew on board the Navy EP-3E surveillance plane that made an emergency landing in China was not able to destroy all sensitive material onboard the aircraft, government and military officials said Thursday.
China has refused to release the damaged aircraft, which landed on Hainan Island on April 1, after colliding with a Chinese F-8 fighter jet over the South China Sea. The 24 American crew members on board the reconnaissance plane were released 11 days later. U.S. officials debriefed them for two days to glean information about the incident.
The National Security Agency, the government office responsible for collecting electronic intelligence, is conducting a review of the potential damage done by the loss of the top-secret aircraft, said two government officials familiar with the study.
"The damage assessment is still ongoing, but it's clear some stuff was lost," said one of the officials. All spoke on condition of anonymity.
"They weren't able to get everything," the official added, speaking of the crew.
The crew worked quickly to destroy their computerized gear and its contents in the minutes between the collision and the time they were taken off the plane by Chinese soldiers, said one Defense Department official.
"They did get a lot of stuff. ... They started through their checklist, which had five or six steps. They had everything electronically zeroed out," said the official.
Another military official, who also spoke privately, said the crew was able to change "key codes" for computerized information and smash hardware with hammers.
Even so, there wasn't enough time to destroy everything, the official said. "It was physically impossible to smash it all up," he said.
A better assessment of the damage will only be able to be made after the plane is returned to U.S. hands, the official said.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking after the crew was released, said they had gone through their checklist and did as much as possible.
The United States has demanded that the plane be returned, but talks with the Chinese over the incident have not resolved the situation.
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I can't help but wonder exactly what the Chinese are finding out.
Moral to this story is that clearly a system needs to be put in to place to destroy ALL sensative material with great ease if the need arises. I don't blame the crew, I blame those who designed a flying N.S.A. office without considering this posibility carefully enough.