EU Kommisjonen ber EASA vurdere russernes flyvirksomhet

European Air Safety Board to Probe Series of Near Mid-air Collisions

LONDON--The European Commission has asked the region's premier aviation safety body to investigate a series of near mid-air collisions between commercial jetliners and military aircraft.

The European Aviation Safety Agency on Monday said it would study the issue and, in March, deliver findings to the commission, the European Union's executive arm. "This is a very serious issue," Patrick Ky, executive director for the Cologne, Germany-based agency, said in a statement.

Russia has been conducting a series of long-range military patrols with combat jets and bomber aircraft along the borders of European Union member states. The Russian military planes frequently don't employ transponders that can help identify the aircraft to commercial air traffic.

The flights, which Russia previously said are not provocative, have prompted European militaries to launch fighter jets to identify the aircraft.

The European commission's director general for transport, Joao Aguiar Machado, said EASA's work would "be essential in further identifying appropriate solutions and follow-up measures to address such events at the European level."