A Russian fighter jet reportedly flew within five feet of a US spy plane in international airspace over the Black Sea yesterday.
NBC News reports that the Sukhov SU-27 “crossed directly through” the flightpath of the American EP-3 Aires aircraft after tailing the US plane for more than two hours, “causing the EP-3 to fly through the SU-27’s jet wash”.
The Russian jet’s actions were “inexcusable, provocative and potentially fatal”, said CNN military analyst John Kirby. The US State Department accused the Russians of “flagrantly violating existing agreements and international law.”
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State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: “We call on Russia to cease these unsafe actions that increase the risk of miscalculation, danger to aircrew on both sides and mid-air collisions.”
But the Russian Defence Ministry has denied that the incident took place. “The entire flight of the Russian Su-27 was strictly in accordance with international rules for the use of airspace and there were no extraordinary events,” it said.