MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. A US-registered NATO reconnaissance aircraft spent nearly eight hours over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, a source in air traffic control services told TASS.

The aircraft, a Bombardier ARTEMIS II, "took off on Monday morning from its permanent base in Constanta, Romania, and flew over the southern part of the Black Sea for nearly eight hours, remaining over neutral waters and without entering the airspace of any country," the source said. According to him, the aircraft operated at a standard altitude of about 12 km without using the civil aviation flight routes.

"The last time this aircraft flew over the Black Sea was the day before, on Sunday," the source recalled. He noted in this regard that in late July, the Bombardier ARTEMIS II set a sort of record by remaining over the Black Sea for nine hours.