Moscow Says U.S. Fighter Threatened Jetliner in N.Y.

The Soviet Union has lodged a formal diplomatic protest with the United States claiming an Air Force jet fighter played a game of aerial chicken with an Aeroflot passenger plane during its final approach to New York’s Kennedy Airport Sunday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Gerasimov said today the U.S. fighter approached the descending passenger plane in a head-on collision course, then veered off at the last minute and passed within 50 yards of the Aeroflot jet. The two aircraft had been flying at the same altitude, he said.

Gerasimov termed the incident “unprecedented and provocative.”

“The passengers in the airliner witnessed that very dangerous maneuver,” Gerasimov told reporters.

In Washington, Pentagon sources said checks revealed no evidence of any military aircraft operating over New York City on Sunday. The sources commented on condition of anonymity.

Gerasimov told reporters the chief of the Aeroflot crew reported the incident immediately on landing and lodged a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration. The crew chief also demanded a tape recording of his exchange with the control tower during the time of the incident.

“A representative of the FAA promised to conduct an investigation,” Gerasimov said.

He said the State Department advised the FAA not to hand over the requested air traffic control tape to the Soviet pilot on security grounds.