The Russian Defense Ministry has called on the US Air Force to avoid endangering civilian passenger flights with their “unprofessional” actions. A US defense attache has been summoned 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. According to Interfax, at least two passenger jets belonging to major European airlines were endangered over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan on Sunday Press TV reports: On Monday, the ministry issued a statement criticizing the flight of a US reconnaissance RC-135 plane, which was detected in the close vicinity of a passenger aircraft over the Sea of Japan. The statement claimed that the US plane had been flying with all of its transponders turned off and at the altitude used by civilian flights without informing air traffic controllers in the region—which is close to Russia’s eastern borders. The statement noted that a US defense attaché has been summoned over the incident, and called on Washington to engage in measures to “avoid the repetition of such situations.” “As the result of the unprofessional actions of the American plane crew, the hazard of a collision with [...]
