Incident Occurred Over The Black Sea During 'Routine Operations'

A Russian SU-27 reportedly flew within 10 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft conducting a "routine operation" over the Black Sea Wednesday morning in the latest incident involving Russian and American forces.

Multiple media sources report that the encounter lasted about 19 minutes. Initially, the Russian jet flew about 30 feet from the P-8A, but then closed to within 10 feet. American officials called the actions of the Russian pilot "unsafe and unprofessional."

Another official said that the U.S. plane attempted to contact the Russian fighter, but received no response. Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said there are often interactions between U.S. and Russian military assets in the area, and "most are safe and professional. However, we have deep concerns when there is an unsafe maneuver. These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident, which results in serious injury or death."

The Russian military called the P-8A a "spy plane" that was approaching Russian airspace, according to the Russian news service RT Novosti. "On September 7, the US P-8 Poseidon surveillance airplanes tried to approach the Russian border twice… with their transponders off,” Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement, adding that the SU-27 jets that intercepted the Poseidon acted "in strict accordance with international flight rules.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said that they SU-27 flew close enough to visually identify the American aircraft, which made a sharp course correction and flew away from the border.

(Images from file)

FMI: www.defense.gov