--- description: A Russian jet flew aggressively close to a U.S. reconnaissance plane on Thursday in the latest unwelcome encounter with Russian forces. title: Russian Jet Flies Close to U.S. Aircraft in 'Unsafe' Manner image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22fe6c9c5a746e1f/69888f6ebc6cfc606f3dc9c4/russian-jet-baltic.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russian Jet Flies Close to U.S. Aircraft in 'Unsafe' Manner  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2016 3:53 PM CUT  A handout image made available on 13 April 2016 by the US Navy shows A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft makes a low altitude pass by USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) in the Baltic Sea on 12 April 2016. A handout image made available on 13 April 2016 by the US Navy shows A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft makes a low altitude pass by USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) in the Baltic Sea on 12 April 2016.US NAVY/EPA  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2016 3:53 PM CUT A Russian jet [flew aggressively close to a U.S. reconnaissance plane](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/17/russians-buzz-us-reconnaissance-plane-over-baltic-sea/83153980/ "undefined") on Thursday in the latest unwelcome encounter with Russian forces in international waters over the Baltic Sea, the Pentagon said Saturday. The Russian aircraft approached the RC-135 reconnaissance plane in an “unsafe and unprofessional” manner, the U.S. military said, according to _USA Today_. The incident comes days after a Russian aircraft dangerously flew around the USS Donald Cook. In that instance, a Russian aircraft performed “[multiple, aggressive flight maneuvers](http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story%5Fid=94170 "undefined"),” including seven barrel rolls, around the U.S. Navy destroyer, authorities said. “There have been repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we are very concerned with any such behavior,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “The unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4296994/russian-jet-flies-close-us-plane/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4296994/russian-jet-flies-close-us-plane/"},"headline":"Russian Jet Flies Close to U.S. Aircraft in 'Unsafe' Manner","datePublished":"2016-04-17T15:53:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:30:07.110Z","description":"The Pentagon is \"very concerned with any such behavior\"","url":"https://time.com/4296994/russian-jet-flies-close-us-plane/","keywords":["russia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22fe6c9c5a746e1f/69888f6ebc6cfc606f3dc9c4/russian-jet-baltic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22fe6c9c5a746e1f/69888f6ebc6cfc606f3dc9c4/russian-jet-baltic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"epa05257625 A handout image made available on 13 April 2016 by the US Navy shows A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft makes a low altitude pass by USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) in the Baltic Sea, 12 April 2016. Donald Cook, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-mis","caption":"epa05257625 A handout image made available on 13 April 2016 by the US Navy shows A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft makes a low altitude pass by USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) in the Baltic Sea, 12 April 2016. Donald Cook, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-mis","creditText":"US NAVY/EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4296994/russian-jet-flies-close-us-plane/","name":"Russian Jet Flies Close to U.S. Aircraft in 'Unsafe' Manner"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Russian Aircraft Flys Dangerously Close to U.S. Navy Ship","description":"Two Russian warplanes simulated an attack on an American guided missile destroyer Tuesday, according to an U.S. official.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kQmAza1O/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-13T21:55:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kQmAza1O.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4296994/russian-jet-flies-close-us-plane/","duration":"PT35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4296994/russian-jet-flies-close-us-plane/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```