The Hainan Island incident was a ten-day international incident between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) that resulted from a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Air Force J-8 interceptor on April 1, 2001.
The EP-3 was flying over the South China sea at a point roughly midway between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands when it was intercepted by two J-8II fighters. A collision between the EP-3 and one of the J-8s caused damage to the EP-3 and the loss of the J-8 and its pilot.