A New York-bound JetBlue flight from the Caribbean island of Curaçao narrowly avoided a midair collision with a US Air Force refueling tanker on Friday, with the pilot blaming the military aircraft for crossing its path.
“We almost had a midair collision up here…They passed directly in our flight path … They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control, The Guardian reported.
The incident involved JetBlue flight 1112 from Curaçao, which lies just off Venezuela’s coast, en route to NYC’s JFK airport. This incident comes amid increased US military operations in the Caribbean targeting suspected drug traffickers, alongside heightened pressure
on Venezuela’s government.
“We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us – maybe 2 or 3 miles – but it was an air-to air-refueler from the United States air force and he was at our altitude,” the pilot said. “We had to stop our climb.” He added that the US Air Force plane then entered Venezuelan airspace.
“We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.” He added: “Our crew members are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team,” Derek Dombrowski, a JetBlue spokesperson, told the news outlet on Sunday.
Earlier in November, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning to US aircraft to “exercise caution” in Venezuelan airspace due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.”
According to the air traffic recording, the controller responded to the pilot, saying, “It has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air.”
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