A Russian fighter plane and a U.S. military plane were involved in a near-collision while flying over Syria earlier this month, officials said.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, the chief of American air operations in the Middle East, described the incident as a “near miss,” the AFP News agency reported. The Russian jet flew within a half-mile of the American plane in eastern Syria on Oct. 17 in the “middle of the night, probably somewhere around midnight,” according to Harrigian.
The Russian jet was escorting a large spy plane when it flew close to the U.S. plane, Harrigian said. He didn’t elaborate on the models of the planes that were involved.
“I would attribute it to not having the necessary situational awareness given all those platforms operating together,” he said, adding that the planes were flying without lights.
“It was close enough [so that] you could feel the jet wash of the plane passing by,” another senior American military official told AFP, referring to the turbulence left by the other plane.
In a statement, Air Force Central Command said the incident was a “mistake,” according to a statement sent to Military.com. “The Russians cooperated by looking into the incident, calling back, and explaining themselves and their pilots’ actions as an error,” it said.
Air Force Col. John Dorrian said officials “don’t believe there was any nefarious intent” on behalf of Moscow.
The incident, however, comes amid deepening tensions between Russia and the U.S. over Moscow’s role in the war in Syria.
