The U.S. military announced on Sunday that an American reconnaissance aircraft had flown into Swedish airspace last month as it sought to avert a possible confrontation with a Russian fighter jet.

The incident took place on July 18, a day after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by a missile in eastern Ukraine reportedly fired by pro-Russia separatists, killing all 298 people on board.

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Navy Capt. Gregory Hicks said an Air Force RC-135 plane was conducting an electronic surveillance mission over international airspace in the Baltic Sea when it noticed it was being tracked by a Russian land-based radar, CNN reported.

The United States European Command said that in an attempt to avoid a possible encounter with Russian planes, U.S. personnel had "incorrectly" directed its pilot to fly into Swedish airspace over Gotland Island.

After it was informed by Swedish air traffic controllers of its error, however, the spy plane had exited the airspace and safely returned to base, Hicks said.

The European Command will take action to ensure proper coordination with Swedish officials in the future to avoid such incidents from happening again, he added.

Similar encounters between Russia and the U.S. have been reported to happen in the past.

On April 12, a Russian SU-24 jet flew near the U.S. Navy's missile destroyer Donald Cook that was in the Black Sea at the time as part of the U.S. government's attempt to reassure its allies in Eastern Europe.

The Russian plane had reportedly made 12 low-altitude passes at the destroyer.

While the incident did not pose any danger to the ship, Pentagon criticized the moves as provocative.

Eleven days later, a Russian SU-27 fighter flew within 100 feet of a U.S. RC-135U reconnaissance aircraft over the waters between Japan and Russia.

While these encounters are not uncommon, especially in Northern Europe and in parts over East Russia and Alaska, a U.S. official said that Russian land radar tracking in this case was unusual.

TagsUS, Russia, Swedish airspace, Malaysia Airlines MH17, MH17, Gregory Hicks, RC-135, US-Russia relations