WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy P-3 plane and a Chinese military aircraft came close to each other over the South China Sea in an incident the Navy believes was inadvertent, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aircraft came within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of each other on Wednesday in the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal, between the Philippines and the Chinese mainland.

The official added that such interactions between Chinese and American aircraft are infrequent, with only two occurring in 2016.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Sandra Maler)