[Leon Harris, Cnn Anchor:] Well, the Pentagon now seems fairly confident the Chinese did not get their hands on sensitive information from the spy plane, or at least anything that will be particularly useful. CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre has that part of the story for us. He takes it now from the Pentagon Jamie.
[Jaime Mcintyre, Cnn Military Affairs Correspondent:] Well, Leon, Pentagon officials are being careful when they say that they're confident that at least the most highly-sensitive and supersecret material on that plane was destroyed by the crew. They got an indication from the crew that they were able to complete their checklist. But the plane itself and the equipment on board is still something that the United States wants back, and still something that China could benefit from if it kept the plane and took it apart. Meanwhile, we've gotten new details about the harrowing minutes that followed the collision over the South China Sea between the EP-3 and an F-8 Chinese fighter. Pentagon sources say that the plane, once it was hit, plunged 8,000 feet in a period of about five minutes, and the reason that they are able to determine that is because it was that long after the collision before a mayday was sounded. So, the best that the Pentagon can put together is that it took them about five minutes to get control of the aircraft, and the reason is the plane was suffering from much greater damage than initially realized, including it had no flaps, no air speed indicator, and the pilot was essentially flying it with very little control. But during the next 10 to 15 minutes, when the Pentagon figures the plane they regained control of the plane, and it was coming in for a landing, again, with those very difficult flying conditions, the crew was apparently able to destroy the most sensitive information and equipment, according to a standard checklist of procedures that they're required to go through. Then when the plane landed on the ground, about 20 minutes after the collision, the crew was forced from the plane by armed Chinese personnel, but Pentagon officials would not say if that was specifically at gunpoint. Some discussion among retired pilots on the Internet about whether the crew should have considered ditching the plane, bailing out, letting it go into the ocean. The Pentagon insists that its policy is to put the safety of the crew ahead of possibly compromising classified information, and that whether the plane could have been ditched, given its crippled state, is also somewhat problematic. The pilot did, really, almost a miracle landing in being able to land the plane safely despite the fact of not having control of the flaps that are used to slow down the plane, and having no air speed indicator, only a ground speed indicator. A very remarkable landing; all 24 crew members are safe and in China Leon.
[Harris:] And Jaime, you bring all of that up and you show us all the damage this plane has sustained, and it's hard to believe that this plane can actually even be returned to the U.S. I know they're asking for it to come back, is it even possible to do?
[Mcintyre:] Oh, absolutely. The plane can be repaired, and that's what would have to happen. It would have to be repaired and put together. In fact, the Pentagon points out that back in the early '70, a Russian plane which had a catastrophic problem on board and had to land in U.S. territory in the Alaska, a reconnaissance plane that was doing a survey of ice floes, the U.S. assisted in getting the plane repaired, giving it fuel. It never boarded that plane, and allowed it to go back to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. So, they're citing that as a precedent of the kind of treatment that they expected to get from China after this accidental collision in midair.
[Harris:] Understood. Jaime McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com