Norway Releases Video Showing Close Aviation Encounter Of Norwegian F-16 With Russian Fighter Jet

IN PHOTO: A Tupolev Tu-160 bomber, an Ilyushin Il-78 refueling tanker and three MiG-31 fighter jets fly in formation over Red Square and the Kremlin during a military parade dress rehearsal in Moscow May 6, 2010. Reuters/Vladimir Nikolsky

A video has been released by the Norwegian Armed Forces that showed just how a Russian fighter jet from out of nowhere suddenly zoomed in front of one of two Norwegian aircraft. It could have been a potential aviation disaster that could seal the fate of Russia and NATO and fuel World War III.

In a report by the Wall Street Journal, Brynjar Stordal, Norwegian Armed Forces spokesman, said they cannot confirm if the incident was a mistake or was maliciously intended by the Russian pilot. He did say that such very close calls were rare.

The video, released on Sunday, showed a Russian MiG-31 suddenly cut in front of one of two Norwegian aircraft. NATO scrambled the latter to intercept Russian aircraft in international airspace north off Norway. The video could hear the Norwegian F-16 pilot saying "What the hell!" as he dodged the MiG-31 passing him at a distance. The gap, according to Stordal, was about 20 metres or 65 feet.

"We could have had a collision between the aircraft," Stordal said. "The pilot has a spontaneous reaction in the video, and both his comment and the evasive maneuver indicate that this is unwanted ...," he added.

So far in 2014, Norwegian F-16s had intercepted Russian jet fighters 43 times, versus the 41 times in 2013. A decade ago, in 2005, it was only 16 occasions, Norway's Ministry of Defense said, effectively corresponding that Russian aircraft have been conducting too many flight incursions along the Norwegian coast in recent years.

Ine Eriksen Søreide, Norwegian minister of defense, told WSJ the Russian military had every right to practice flying their arsenal and pilots. But Russia must abide with international aviation laws and regulations. "It is unacceptable that Russian planes create dangerous situations in European airspace...."

Russian warplanes have been alleged to be flying on stealth mode in November, according to Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's new secretary general. He alleged Russian pilots have been discovered to be increasingly turning off the transponder of their planes, raising the scary possibility of another aviation disaster concerning commercial airliners that involves the lives of international travellers. Pilots get to know the existence of another plane by the signal emitted by the other plane's flight transponder.

See the video below.