According to an Interfax source in air traffic control services, earlier one of the US reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea crossed civil aviation routes and approached the Airbus Tel Aviv - Moscow passenger flight.
The aircraft crew reported on an alarm signaling a dangerous approach.
“There was less than 20 m between the planes vertically. The controllers gave the command to the civil plane to descend by 500 m and take a safer echelon,” the source said.
The intruder did not respond to inquiries from the ground.
According to the National Center for Defense Control of Russia, on December 3, Russian Su-27 and Su-30 fighters escorted the US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft and the CL-600 ARTEMIS reconnaissance and target designation aircraft of the US Ground Forces over the Black Sea.