Polish Patrol Plane Narrowly Avoids Collision After Russian Jet Makes 'Aggressive And Dangerous' Maneuvers

A Polish plane, reportedly patrolling over the Black Sea near Romania, narrowly escaped colliding with a Russian combat jet Friday.

The Russian aircraft made "aggressive" advances and came dangerously close to the Polish plane, causing the pilots to initially lose control. The Polish pilots, however, managed to safely land in Romania, Poland's Border Guard said Sunday.

The Polish Turbolet L-410 was conducting patrols over the Black Sea on Friday for EU border protection agency Frontex when the incident took place, according to DW. The flight was part of a routine Frontex patrol in conjunction with Romania's border police, Romanian officials said.

During the patrolling, the Polish aircraft was intercepted by a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet that "flew without any radio contact into the operational area designated by Romania...," the border authority said in a statement.

The Russian fighter jet performed "aggressive and dangerous maneuvers," and allegedly made three approaches toward the Polish aircraft, according to the statement.

"The Russian warplane flew right in front of the nose of the SG plane, crossing its flight path at a dangerous distance," the border authority continued.

The Polish crew estimated the Russian aircraft was about 16 feet (5 meters) away from the patrolling plane before finally moving away.

The turbulence, caused by the aggressive maneuvers, led to the Polish pilots losing control of the aircraft and also altitude, Reuters reported.

Officials said the Polish aircraft eventually landed successfully in Romania following the mid-air encounter.

Romania's Ministry of National Defense condemned the actions of the Russian fighter jet.

Calling the Russian aircraft's behavior "totally unacceptable," Bucharest said, "This incident is further evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea."

The incident prompted NATO Combined Air Operations Center in Torrejon, Spain, to place Romanian and Spanish aircraft on "pre-alert."

The Romanian Air Force and the Spanish Air Force had two combat aircraft each ready to intervene, but the Romanian ministry said intervention was not necessary.

"It looks like a planned provocation by Russia, the crew acted responsibly and luckily nothing happened. We can see that Russia is trying to draw international attention by such provocations," Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller was quoted telling a local news outlet.