Russia says airliner was forced to change trajectory to avoid NATO reconnaissance plane

Russia’s state aviation authority on Sunday said that an Aeroflot airliner flying from Tel Aviv to Moscow was forced to change altitude over the Black Sea because NATO CL-600 reconnaissance aircraft crossed civilian aircraft routes. According to Russian state media, TASS, Russian aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, informed that the Aeroflot flight carrying 142 passengers had to drop 2,000 feet after air traffic control told officials that another aircraft had crossed its path. 

"On the morning of December 03 at 09:53 Moscow time, over the open waters of the Black Sea, near the area of responsibility of Russian air traffic service bodies, the NATO CL600 reconnaissance aircraft operated with an intensive decline from a height of 11,000 to an altitude of 9,200 meters, crossing the air traffic service route established for civil aircraft. The crew of the reconnaissance aircraft did not respond to repeated requests from air traffic service bodies," Rosaviatsia said as quoted by TASS news agency. 

Further, the Russian aviation ministry said that the flight routes of two civil aircraft ran almost simultaneously above the Black Sea. Rosaviatsia informed that a smalled CL-650 aircraft flying from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to Skopje also had changed its course. However, it did not say which NATO member the reconnaissance aircraft belonged to. 

Russia to protest through diplomatic channels 

Rosaviatsia said that “the increased intensity of NATO aircraft flights near the borders of the Russian Federation, including over the Black Sea, creates risks of dangerous incidents against civil aircraft”. Additionally, the aviation authorities announced that Russia now intends to send a protest through diplomatic channels. It also said that the above flights of military aircraft without radio communication carry risks to the safety of civil aircraft flights in the Black Sea area. 

Meanwhile, it is to mention that the recent incident comes amid international tensions over Ukraine and the Black Sea region. Ukraine and NATO powers have accused Russia of building troops near Ukrain, sparking fears of a possible attack. Moscow, on the other hand, has denied any such plan and accused Kyiv of building up its own forces in the east, where Russian-backed separatists control a large part of Ukrainian territory. Kremlin has insisted that Ukraine and its supporters from the West were making the claims to cover up their own allegedly aggressive designs. 

Image: AP