I have seen my share of unique airplanes over the skies of greater Boston in my decades of work as a Boston Herald news photographer. I saw a Russian surveillance plane, a Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-154, flying over Boston yesterday. That was a first. It all started Thursday when I saw a Washington Post story about a Russian surveillance plane flying low over Washington DC. That story piqued my interest. Yesterday, while doing assignment editor, photodesk duty at the Boston Herald, I saw a tweet from FlightRadar24. The tweet read: “stay with us for radar coverage of the Russian surveillance flight.” I tracked this plane from Dayton,OH to New York State to Warwick,RI where it then took a sharp right turn. I then noticed it flying a circle over Newport,RI and then headed directly north, toward Boston. I ran out of the Herald’s offices and onto Southie’s D St. and got in my car and drove to East 1st st. I looked to my left as I was driving and there it was, flying over the old Edison plant on L St. FlightRadar had it at a low 3600′. I had little time to grab a Canon 800mm lens, which had a 1.4 extender attached. I parked, jumped out of the car, and must’ve struck a curious pose to passers-by as I pointed my “bazooka” skyward. My only regret is that I did not have time to photograph the plane with the Boston skyline, to put it into context to where it was.
**Ed note** This is a sanctioned flight. The US is able to do it over Russia as well. The reciprocal agreement is called “Open Skies.” More from the Boston Herald. More here from the Dayton Daily News, where the plane is being housed.
More from CNN, with one of the first stories, over Washington,DC.

August 11, 2017- Boston,MA. An unarmed Russian jet, sanctioned to fly over the USA, is seen over Boston during the noon hour. Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel

August 11, 2017- Boston,MA. An unarmed Russian jet, sanctioned to fly over the USA, is seen over Boston during the noon hour. Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel