Chinese Navy helicopter flies dangerously close to BFAR aircraft

A Chinese Navy helicopter flew dangerously close, within three meters, to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc on February 18, an incident the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) described as highly provocative.

The close encounter created turbulent propeller wash that nearly destabilized the Philippine aircraft carrying journalists and PCG personnel.

The United States condemned the action, with US Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce calling it "unsafe and irresponsible" and noting it "endangered the safety of the Philippine aircraft and its crew during a routine maritime domain awareness flight."

Bruce further emphasized that such reckless actions by China threaten navigation and overflight in the South China Sea and called on China to refrain from coercive actions.

The Philippine government announced it will file a diplomatic protest over the encounter.

In response to this and other aggressive maneuvers, the BFAR and PCG conducted a maritime domain awareness flight over the Kalayaan Island Group on February 20 using two BFAR aircraft.

During this flight, they observed six Chinese maritime militia vessels illegally present in Rozul Reef and a China Coast Guard ship with bow number "5101" and over 50 maritime militia vessels near Pag-asa Island.

The BFAR aircraft consistently challenged the illegal presence of Chinese maritime forces encountered during the flights.