Russia: No flight violation as bomber buzzes U.S. aircraft carrier

MOSCOW (CNN) - Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that there was no violation of flight regulations during a weekend incident in which a Russian bomber flew low over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the western Pacific.

A ministry official said the flights are standard operating procedure for air force training.
Four turbo-prop Tupolev-95 Bear bombers were in the area, U.S. military officials said Monday, as one of them twice flew about 2,000 feet off the deck of the USS Nimitz on Saturday.

A second bomber was about 50 miles away, and the other two were at least 100 miles away, the military said. Military officials said four F-18A fighter jets from the Nimitz were in the air.

Russian bombers have been making flights over the western Pacific for several months. Late last year, an F-15A came across a Tupolev-95 very close to the Alaskan shoreline.