Pentagon: Russian jet flies too close to US aircraft

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon says that a Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. military reconnaissance plane in international airspace over the Black Sea on Monday.

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon says the Russian SU-27 made a high-speed pass directly in front of the U.S. EP-3 and came “very, very close” to the American aircraft. Pahon says the Russian jet then activated its afterburners creating more turbulence, and then made a second pass by the U.S. plane.

He says it was deemed an unsafe encounter that put the U.S. pilots and crew at risk. He says there was no communication between the two aircraft and the incident lasted about 25 minutes.

The U.S. EP-3 Aries came out of Souda Bay, Greece, and was conducting routine operations.