Iceland has complained that Russian air force bombers have been flying too close to civil airliners, the most recent incident involving a flight from Reykjavik. The ministry said it “has repeatedly objected to unidentified Russian military flights, due to the danger this may pose to passenger flights” and would be doing so again. But Aleksei Chadisky, spokesman for the Russian ambassador to Reykjavik, said the danger had been exaggerated. Other Nordic countries have made similar complaints in recent years about Russian military flights that have switched off their transponders: devices that allow radars to identify planes and prevent collisions. The Icelandic foreign ministry said that in the latest case the transponder failed to transmit the plane’s altitude and speed.

Source: The Guardian September 26, 2016 22:07 UTC