A Polish Border Guard aircraft patrolling for the European Union’s border agency Frontex near Romania, over the Black Sea, narrowly avoided a crash with a Russian Fighter Jet on Friday, Romanian and Polish officials said.
Anna Michalska wrote on Twitter that a Russian SU-35 jet performed “aggressive, dangerous manoeuvres” when approaching the Polish plane without maintaining a safe distance. This caused turbulence and loss of altitude, and the Polish crew temporarily lost control of the aircraft.
Michalska stated that “the Russian jet flew right in front of nose of the Polish aircraft, crossing its flight path at a distance dangerous, estimated by crew to be about five metres”, Michalska.
Michalska said that after three approaches, the Russian jet took off. The incident occurred in international airspace.
In a press statement, the Romanian Ministry of Defence said that the Russian jet’s behavior was totally unacceptable.
The ministry stated that “this incident is yet another proof of Russia’s provocative approach in the Black Sea”.
The NATO Combined Air Operations Centre, located in Torrejon (Spain), alerted two combat aircraft of the Romanian Air Force as well as two Spanish Air Force aircraft that were designated for Air Police missions. The four aircraft were prepared to act at any time, but their intervention was unnecessary, according to the ministry.
“It appears to be a provocation planned by Russia. The crew acted responsibly, and fortunately nothing happened.” “We can see that Russia is attempting to attract international attention through such provocations,” Polish Government spokesman Piotr Müller told private television Polsat News Sunday.
