Let’s see if this gets saturation coverage in the western media.I’m not holding my breath
US spy plane flew ‘dangerously close’ to passenger jets near Russian border – MoD
RT,
23
May, 2016
A
US defense attache has been summoned by Russia's Defense Ministry
after an incident over the Sea of Japan near Russia's eastern
borders, where an American spy plane was detected flying too close to
civilian aircraft.
Russia's
air defense detected an RC-135 spy plane belonging to US Air Force on
Sunday, the ministry said in its statement. The plane was on an air
reconnaissance mission with all of its transponders having been shut
off, it added.
The
US crew had not provided any information regarding its flight to air
traffic controllers in the region, despite it flying at the same
altitude as scheduled civil aviation flights.
“As
the result of the unprofessional actions of the American plane crew,
the hazard of a collision with civil aviation planes was created,"
Russia's Defense Ministry said, adding that it asked the US official
to take measures to prevent such incidents from happening near
Russia's borders in the future.
At
least two passenger jets belonging to major European airlines were
endangered by the then-unknown aircraft over the neutral waters of
the Sea of Japan on Sunday, Interfax reported.
The
"unknown
aircraft"
was flying at the altitude of some 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) and
did not respond to air traffic control, the agency said citing its
source. Russian air controllers had to immediately change the flight
path of a KLM Boeing-777, which was in the same region en route from
Japan to Holland.
Pilots
from another airplane, operated by Swiss airlines, heading to
Switzerland from Japan, even reported "visual
contact with a large four-engine aircraft, which was in direct
proximity to their plane"
and sent no recognition signals, the source said. The flying altitude
for the Swiss jet also had to be changed by the air traffic control.
There
have been a number of incidents during which US intelligence aircraft
have been detected close to Russian airspace this year. In January, a
US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted by a Russian
fighter jet when flying over the Black Sea. US officials
then blamed Moscow
for an "unproffessional"
maneuver of its fighter jet. In April, another US reconnaissance
plane "rapidly
approaching the Russian border"
was intercepted in the Baltic Sea.
Following
the episodes over the Baltic Sea, Russia's Defense Ministry released
an official statement, saying US surveillance planes should either
not approach the Russian borders or at least keep aerial transponders
switched on. "Turn
on transponders for automatic identification by our radars,"
the ministry said at the time.
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