“We nearly had a midair collision. They cut right across our flight path with no transponder on. That’s unacceptable,” a JetBlue pilot told air traffic control, according to an audio recording released on December 14.
The incident occurred on December 12 and involved JetBlue Flight 1112, which was traveling from Curaçao, an island nation off the northwestern coast of Venezuela, to New York City.
“An aircraft just cut in front of us within about eight kilometers, possibly as close as three to five kilometers. It was a U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft. They were flying at the same altitude as us, and we had to stop our climb,” the JetBlue pilot said. The U.S. refueling aircraft then appeared to continue toward Venezuelan airspace.
👉Funny Football Parody Shirt – Make American Football Great Again USA Flag Classic T-Shirt
JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said the airline has reported the incident to U.S. federal authorities and will cooperate with any related investigations. He emphasized that JetBlue flight crews are trained to handle a wide range of situations and praised the crew for promptly reporting the incident.
The Pentagon referred questions about the incident to the U.S. Air Force, which has not yet responded to requests for comment. Last month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned American aircraft to “exercise caution when operating in Venezuelan airspace” due to deteriorating security conditions and increased military activity in the region.
The incident occurred as the U.S. military has been reinforcing its presence in the southern Caribbean Sea, deploying fighter jets, search-and-rescue aircraft, electronic warfare planes, and warships as part of a counter-narcotics operation.
U.S. KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refueling aircraft have frequently conducted missions from regional airfields. Meanwhile, F/A-18 fighter jets and B-52 bombers have previously flown close to Venezuelan airspace. The U.S. military has also deployed the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to areas near Venezuela, along with at least eight surface vessels, a special operations support ship, an attack submarine, F-35B stealth fighters, AC-130 gunships, transport aircraft, drones, and more than 15,000 troops.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has claimed that the military buildup indicates U.S. intentions to pursue regime change in Venezuela.
On December 2, President Donald Trump said he would order strikes against drug trafficking operations on land, rather than focusing solely on vessels suspected of carrying narcotics at sea. He also stated that any country involved in transporting drugs into the United States could be targeted, including Venezuela.