Drama over Swiss skies

Russia has sought an explanation from Switzerland after Swiss fighter jets flew close to a Russian government airliner en route to Peru for the APEC summit.

Three Swiss F/A 18 jets on Friday came close to the aeroplane carrying Russian APEC delegation members and journalists and escorted it while in Swiss air space, according to a Reuters reporter aboard the Russian airliner.

“(We) have expressed surprise and asked for explanations from Switzerland over the incident with the Russian government plane in the sky of the Confederation,” Russian Embassy in Switzerland wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

In response, Switzerland said that the fighter jets had merely been making routine checks.

A Reuters reporter on board saw Swiss F/A-18 jets approach the plane, and escort it while it was in Swiss airspace.

The Swiss Defense Ministry said two of its F/A-18s had flown alongside the Russian plane for seven minutes over Swiss territory.

It said such checks were conducted around 400 times a year to double-check the identity of planes belonging to foreign governments.

“It’s like police patrols in the street checking a car to make sure it wasn’t stolen,” said Daniel Reist, a spokesman for the Swiss military.

The purpose was “to check the identification of the plane concerned,” a procedure he said was “provided for in the rules” of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

It is not the first time that a Russian plane crossing Swiss airspace has been subject to such a procedure.

In October 2015, Moscow protested to the Swiss ambassador following a manoeuvre by an F/A-18 near a Russian transport plane carrying a parliamentary delegation to Geneva.

Switzerland apologised, but noted that Russian authorities had received prior notice of the move.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had said it was “unconvinced” by the official Swiss explanation.

[vuukle]