US 'spy plane' makes emergency landing in Russia after 'problem with its landing gear'
- The surveillance Boeing OC-135B aircraft was flying a mission over Siberia
- Problem with landing gear prompted emergency landing in eastern Russia
- Treaty on Open Skies allows signatories to overfly the skies of each other
- But Russia has now questioned whether the technical glitch was genuine
'They were due to go direct from Ulan-Ude north-northeast to Yakutsk,' said the unnamed source, as reported by The Siberian Times.
'Just imagine the kind of loop they needed to make to request the landing at approximately the same distance, but to the east?'..
The Boeing OC-135B aircraft seats up to 35 people as it monitors foreign territory on behalf of the US government.
One vertical and two oblique KS-87E framing cameras are used for low-altitude photography approximately 900 metres above the ground, and one KA-91C panoramic camera, which scans from side to side to provide a wide sweep for each picture used for high-altitude photography at approximately 11,000 metres.
The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 and was seen as a major confidence-building measure after the Cold War.
It entered into force on January 1, 2002.
Currently 34 states are party to the treaty, including Russia and most NATO members
It allows an unarmed aerial surveillance programme of flights over the entire territory of fellow participants.
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