The 24-member crew of a US spy plane held in China for 11 days received an upbeat welcome when they arrived in Hawaii yesterday on their way home to Easter reunions with their loved ones.
The 21 men and three women stepped off a C-17 Air Force plane named The Spirit of Bob Hope smiling and wearing green military jumpsuits as a small crowd of staff and families at Hickam Air Force Base waved US flags and "welcome home" banners.
Their return marked the end of the most serious incident in nearly two years between the world's most powerful nation, the US, and the most populous, China.
Last night President Bush rebuked China for detaining the crew of the spy plane.
"China's decision to prevent the return of our crew for 11 days is inconsistent with the kind of relationship we have both said we wish to have," he said in a statement.
The Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, earlier warned that the release of the crew did not mean "the end of the case".
Both sides appeared to be hardening their positions ahead of talks starting on Wednesday on issues left unresolved by the face-saving deal clinched to end the stand-off.
The freed crew cheered loudly as they left China's airspace yesterday and then watched Hollywood blockbusters Men of Honor and Remember the Titans.
"The best feeling out of the trip was when we made it 12 miles off the coast of Hainan and reached international airspace," Capt Tom Pinardo, who flew the chartered Continental Micronesia Boeing 737, said.
"We made an announcement on the PA system which brought loud applause from the back of the plane. . . all of us were happy to be back in the free world," he said. So happy that one of the freed crew even successfully proposed to his girlfriend as soon as he got to a phone in Guam.
On Whidbey Island, in Washington state, where a majority of the crew live, a massive homecoming is being prepared for their return tomorrow. Banners have started to appear and families are converging from all over the US to meet their loved ones.
--(Additional reporting by Reuters, AFP)
