US diplomats set off for a fifth meeting Tuesday with the crew of a US spy plane detained on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

US military attache Briadier General Neal Sealock and consular official Ted Gong left the Mandarin hotel in Haikou, the capital of Hainan, at 7:15 pm (1115 GMT).

Earlier, a US diplomat said she could not be sure if the meeting would involve all 24 members of the EP-3 surveillance plane which landed in Hainan after a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet on April 1.

Sealock and Gong met with all the crew on Monday evening during which they handed over snack food and e-mails from family members.

"Their spirits remain extremely high, there is no doubt that unit has their heads up and they know the situation," Sealock told reporters.

(Agencies 04/10/2001)