A U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian fighter jet Monday in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, according to three U.S. defense officials and a statement from the Navy.

During an encounter that lasted a total of 25 minutes, the Russian SU-27 jet passed directly in front of the U.S. EP-3 aircraft at a high speed, the officials said. The U.S. crew reported turbulence following that initial interaction in which the direct pass occurred.

The SU-27 then made a second pass of the U.S. plane and applied its afterburner while conducting a banking maneuver, which is believed to have caused the vibration that was experienced by the American crew.

“This interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-27 conducting a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, which put our pilots and crew at risk. The intercepting SU-27 made an additional pass, closing with the EP-3 and applying its afterburner while conducting a banking turn away. The crew of the EP-3 reported turbulence following the first interaction, and vibrations from the second,” according to a statement from the U.S. Navy.

Officials so far have not been able to estimate how close the Russian aircraft came to the U.S. plane, but described the flight behavior of the Russians as the key factor in making the determination the encounter was unsafe.

A Twitter account for the Russian embassy in the U.S. posted a brief statement about the encounter Monday saying the fighter jet “followed all necessary safety procedures.”

The last reported unsafe intercept of a U.S. Navy aircraft by a Russian jet occurred in January when a Russian Su-27 jet flew within 2 meters of a U.S. Navy EP-3, forcing the Navy plane to fly through its jet wash.

(SD-Agencies)