Two US jets flew dangerously close to an Iranian passenger plane over war-torn Syria, forcing the pilot to take emergency action and sparking panic on board, Iranian authorities said yesterday. The US military said of Thursday's incident that an "F-15 on a routine air mission... conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (yards)". Iranian state television aired amateur footage of passengers on board screaming as the Mahan Air jetliner appeared to change course suddenly. Another video apparently shot on a phone appeared to show at least two fighter jets flying beside the plane. Iran's official IRNA news agency said the aircraft later landed safely in the Lebanese capital.