Soviet Fighter Chases Swedish Plane, Crashes

A Soviet air force pilot was believed killed when his SU-15 jet fighter crashed in the Baltic Sea after pursuing a Swedish fighter plane monitoring a Warsaw Pact naval exercise, the Defense Staff reported today.

The incident occurred Sunday when a Swedish air force fighter approached a Warsaw Pact naval exercise in international waters southeast of the island of Gotland, Defense staff press officer Jan Tuninger said.

Tuninger said both the Swedish and the Soviet pilots were following routine procedures and a spokesman for Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said that no diplomatic repercussions are expected.

“It was apparently an accident. It is not a diplomatic issue,” said Jan Eliasson, head of the Foreign Ministry’s political department. He said there had been no contacts between Sweden and the Soviet Union about the incident.

Soviet Jets Dispatched

When the Swedish plane neared the naval exercise, two SU-15 fighters apparently were dispatched to identify the plane, as is common under international military routine, Tuninger said.

The Soviet fighters flew to the left and rear of the Swedish plane, also according to international rules, he said. One of the pursuing planes, flying at an altitude of only about 200 yards and a speed of about 360 m.p.h., suddenly crashed into the sea, he said.

The pilot failed to eject himself and presumably was killed, said Tuninger. He said Soviet ships quickly arrived to search for the pilot and did not request Swedish assistance.

Tuninger said that Sweden had not released news of the accident “because we have no reason to tell of other country’s crashes.” The Soviet Union seldom reports military accidents.