'Aggressive' Russian fighter jet buzzes U.S. destroyer in close encounter at sea
A U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea had a close encounter with two Russian fighter jets that were carrying out "aggressive" flight maneuvers close to the ship on Monday and Tuesday.
The planes were seen buzzing the deck in videos and images released by United States European Command, which oversees the area where the ship was operating.
"In my judgement these maneuvers... are unprofessional and unsafe." said Commander Adm. Mark Ferguson in a statement.
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The USS Donald Cook was conducting deck landing drills of a helicopter on April 11 when two Russian SU-24 jets made several close passes over the ship, according to a press release.
"We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight maneuvers," read the statement from European Command. "These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death."
"One of the passes, which occurred while the Allied helicopter was refueling on the deck of Donald Cook, was deemed unsafe by the ship’s commanding officer."
The ship had to halt flight operations until the fighter jets were out of the area.
But the following day, it happened again.
On Tuesday, while the same ship was again operating in the Baltic Sea, a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter circled and then two jets again buzzed the deck.
The Navy claims the jets "flew in a simulated attack profile" and failed to respond to repeated safety advisories in both English and Russian.
The Navy claims the jets "flew in a simulated attack profile" and failed to respond to repeated safety advisories in both English and Russian. USS Donald Cook’s commanding officer deemed several of these maneuvers as unsafe and unprofessional.
It was unclear if or when the U.S. government would formally protest the Russian actions. They come at a time of tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia's annexation of Crimea, its military intervention in eastern Ukraine and fears among former Soviet states in eastern Europe that Russian aggression could threaten their independence.
On both days, the crew of the Cook attempted to contact the Russian aircraft by radio but received no response, according to an official with knowledge of the incident.
The U.S. believes the Russian actions may have violated of a 1970s agreement meant to prevent unsafe incidents at sea. The agreement was between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union but remains in force with Russia, the official said.
The official said the Cook was operating in international waters 70 nautical miles off the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. It had departed the Polish port of Gdynia on Monday. In April 2014, the Cook reported what it considered provocative actions by an apparently unarmed Russian Su-24 jet that made numerous low passes near the ship in the Black Sea near Romania.
Additional information from the Associated Press.
Megan Specia was Mashable's Assistant Real-Time News Editor and joined the team in September 2014. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of New Hampshire after growing up in the Jersey 'burbs. She made her way to New York via a four year stopover in Dublin. Megan previously worked as a journalist and editor at Storyful in both Dublin and New York. Before all of that, though, her claim to fame was as head cake arranger and purveyor of all things sweet at Queen of Tarts cafe in Dublin, where she developed a serious addiction to macarons.
