Russian military flights near Europe are heightening the risk of an aviation disaster

by JEREMY BENDER


Russian military aircraft over Europe are increasingly flying without their transponders turned on, Bloomberg reports.

Transponders are devices that allow for aircraft to communicate their position to both ground control and other aicraft. By having its planes "flying dark" near EU airspace, Russia is creating a heightened chance of a catastrophic aviation disaster somewhere over the continent.

In December, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that these Russian incursions could pose a serious threat to passenger aircraft across the continent.

“It is not only a question of increased ... flights but it's the way they're conducting the flights. They are not filing their flight plans and they are not communicating with civilian air traffic control and they are not turning on their transponders," Stoltenberg told a news conference.

Stoltenberg's warnings were apt, and it's only by luck that there hasn't been an incident already.

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Read more: www.businessinsider.com

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