A Chinese fighter pilot flew within 20 feet of an Air Force reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea last week, forcing the U.S. aircrew to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision, American officials said Thursday.
The Pentagon’s U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that an Air Force RC-135 aircraft was flying in international airspace and lawfully conducting routine operations on Dec. 21 when a pilot with the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) maneuvered a Chinese J-11 fighter jet in front of the large four-engine aircraft.
“The PLAN pilot flew an unsafe maneuver by flying in front of and within 20 feet of the nose of the RC-135,” according to the Indo-Pacific Command statement, which included a video of the incident.