Navy Identifies 24 on Spy Plane
W A S H I N G T O N, April 2 -- The 24 crew members of aU.S. Navy surveillance plane that made an emergency landing inChina over the weekend after a midair collision with a Chinesefighter jet include three women and eight codebreakers, theNavy said today.
The codebreakers, known as cryptology specialists, would beinvolved in the decoding and analysis of the intelligence beingcollected by the EP-3 plane.
The four-engine turboprop plane is used for eavesdropping.It collects radio, radar and other transmissions from ships ormilitary posts on land, sweeping up communications and datafrom the air like a vacuum.
President Bush demanded today that Beijinggrant immediate U.S. access to the crew.
The list included 22 crew members from the Navy, one Marineand one from the Air Force.
Most Crew Are Navy
Those from Navy are: Richard Bensing of Brandon, Fla;Steven Blocher of Charlotte, N.C.; Bradford Borland,no hometown listed; David Cecka of Leavenworth, Wash.;John Comerford of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.; ShawnCoursen of Valdosta, Ga.; and Jeremy Crandall of PoplarGrove, Ill.
Josef Edmunds of Davis, Calif.; Brandon Funk ofShowlow, Ariz.; Scott Guidry of Satellite Beach, Fla.;Jason Hanser of Billings, Mont.; Patrick Honeck of La Mesa,Calif.; Regina Kauffman of Warminster, Pa.;Nicholas Mellos of Ypsilanti, Mich.; Ramon Mercado of MorenoValley, Calif.
Shane Osborn of Norfolk, Neb.; Richard Payne, nohometown listed; Kenneth Richter of Staten Island, N.Y.;Marcia Sonon of Lenharstville, Pa.; Jeffrey Vignery ofGoodland, Kan.; Wendy Westbrook of Rock Creek, Ohio andRodney Young of Katy, Texas.
One Marine, One Air Force Member
The one Marine is listed as Mitchell Pray of Geneseo, Ill. andthe Air Force member is listed as Curtis Towne of Haywood, Calif.
