U.S. Spy Plane Crashes in S. China Sea
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WASHINGTON — An Air Force SR-71 Blackbird spy plane crashed into the South China Sea during a reconnaissance mission, the government said today, but both crewmen ejected safely and were picked up.
An Air Force spokesman refused to discuss the mission or which country was targeted by the aircraft flying out of the U.S. spy plane detachment at Kadena Air Base in Japan. High-flying SR-71s are able to take detailed photographs of installations miles below them.
The plane in question, a 22-year-old craft targeted for retirement in the Air Force’s fiscal 1990 budget, crashed into the water early today, the spokesman said.
“The crew reported engine failure shortly after takeoff,” he said. “Both crew members ejected and were taken to Clark Air Base, the Philippines, in good condition.”
An Air Force official said the service is pushing for retirement of SR-71s because it costs about $8 million to make each intelligence-gathering pass and U.S. spy satellites can do the job faster and with greater clarity.
An SR-71 mission to monitor the U.S. Navy’s escort of re-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in May, 1988, cost nearly $18 million, the official noted.
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