MOSCOW — A Russian fighter jet got too close for comfort when it intercepted a U.S. Navy spy plane over the Black Sea yesterday. <br /> <br />U.S. defense officials labeled the move “unsafe and unprofessional”, and warned the 19-minute long incident could escalate tensions between the two countries, ABC News reported. <br /> <br />The U.S. and Russia are at loggerheads over Syria and the Ukraine and this latest flashpoint suggests they’re unlikely to be on good terms anytime soon. <br /> <br />The U.S. Navy P-8A spy plane was buzzed by a Russian SU-27 “Flanker-B” fighter jet as it flew in international airspace over the Black Sea. <br /> <br />At first the Russian jet maintained a distance of about 30 feet but it then passed within 10 feet of the U.S. plane, and that’s what got U.S. military chiefs so pissed. <br /> <br />The U.S. pilot tried to contact the Russian jet but got no response, U.S. defense officials said. <br /> <br />Russian defense officials admitted sending fighter jets to intercept the U.S. plane, Reuters reported. <br /> <br />They claim the U.S. aircraft was close to the Russian border and had turned off its transponders, which are needed to ID the plane.
