Nov. 28 (UPI) — A U.S. Navy plane had an “unsafe” interaction with a Russian fighter jet while flying over the Black Sea on Saturday, the Pentagon said.
The Russian SU-30 fighter jet used its afterburners as it flew in front of the U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane.
The Russian fighter jet came as close as 50 feet to the Navy plane and activated its afterburners as it moved from right to left and flew in front of the U.S. plane.
“The U.S. aircraft was operating in international airspace and did nothing to provoke this Russian behavior,” Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, told CNN.
Baldanza said the Russian jet’s movements were deemed unsafe because it forced the Navy plane to enter its jet wash, which caused it to experience “a 15-degree roll and violent turbulence.”
“Unsafe actions have the potential to cause serious harm and injury to all air crews involved,” she said.
The last reported interaction between U.S. and Russian aircraft took place in June when a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 flew within five feet of an American RC-135 reconnaissance plane.
