JetBlue flight near Venezuela avoids ‘midair collision’ with US Air Force tanker

WASHINGTON AP A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Cura ao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a U S Air Force refueling tanker on Friday and the pilot blamed the military plane for traveling his path We almost had a midair collision up here the JetBlue pilot noted 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 The case involved JetBlue Flight from Cura ao which is just off the coast of Venezuela en path to New York City s JFK airport It comes as the U S military has stepped up its drug interdiction exercises in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on Venezuela s regime We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within miles of us maybe or miles but it was an air-to air-refueler from the United States Air Force and he was at our altitude the pilot disclosed We had to stop our climb The pilot noted the Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan air space Derek Dombrowski a spokesman for JetBlue revealed Sunday We have stated this episode to federal functionaries and will participate in any inquiry He added Our crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership crew The Pentagon referred The Associated Press to the Air Force for comment The Air Force didn t straightaway respond to a request for comment The Federal Aviation Administration last month issued a warning to U S aircraft urging them to exercise caution when in Venezuelan airspace due to the worsening protection situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela According to the air traffic recording the controller responded to the pilot It has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air