An Air Force plane headed into Venezuelan airspace narrowly avoided a collision with a JetBlue flight over the weekend.
The JetBlue pilot, who was manning a flight from the Caribbean nation of Curaçao, blamed the Friday incident on his American counterpart. The JetBlue plane was climbing after takeoff when the U.S. military aircraft entered its flight path, according to the airline and air traffic controller recordings.
“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.”
“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot added, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They passed directly in our flight path. … They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command said it is “currently reviewing” the incident.
“Military aircrews are highly trained professionals who operate in accordance with established procedures and applicable airspace requirements,” the SOUTHCOM spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Safety remains a top priority, and we are working through the appropriate channels to assess the facts surrounding the situation.”
JetBlue spokesman Derek Dombrowski said Sunday that the airline had reported the incident to federal authorities and “will participate in any investigation.”
“Our crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team,” he said, according to CNN.
The incident took place as the U.S. military has expanded its presence in the Venezuelan region to historic levels, amid the White House’s crackdown on South American drug traffickers. The Trump administration has particularly sought to intensify pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, carrying out around two dozen controversial strikes targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that have killed more than 80 people.
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American forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela earlier this month, further escalating tensions as President Donald Trump warned that Maduro’s days “are numbered.”
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
