1.   Airlines said delays would decline, however, as planes were returned to service.

2.   But the Chinese made no promises to return the plane, whose surveillance equipment has presumably been carefully picked over.

3.   China also rejected plans to return the plane on a U.S. Navy ship and declined permission for U.S. military planes to land there.

4.   China also rejected plans to return the plane on a U.S. Navy ship and would not grant permission for U.S. planes to land there.

5.   Company officials interviewed those who signed it and have said no planes were returned to flight in an unsafe or unairworthy manner.

6.   During that month, Alaska must get FAA approval on heavy maintenance work before it returns any planes to passenger service.

7.   He said investigators, among other things, will want to know if replacing the nut would have delayed returning the plane to service.

8.   Negotiations resumed Thursday only after Ambassador Joseph Prueher went to the Foreign Ministry and convinced Chinese officials that talks would fail if it refused to discuss returning the plane.

9.   No agreement was reported on what caused the accident or whether the disabled U.S. plane would be returned.

10.   Rumsfeld has now promised to restore the ties after the Navy plane is returned but has offered no specifics.