WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Cura莽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 crossing his path.
鈥淲e almost had a midair collision up here,鈥� the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. 鈥淭hey passed directly in our flight path. … They don鈥檛 have their transponder turned on, it鈥檚 outrageous.鈥�
The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Cura莽ao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City’s JFK airport. It comes as the U.S. military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to on Venezuela’s government.
鈥淲e just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us 鈥� maybe 2 or 3 miles 鈥� but it was an air-to air-refueler from the United States Air Force and he was at our altitude,鈥� the pilot said. 鈥淲e had to stop our climb.鈥� The pilot said the Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan air space.
Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said Sunday: 鈥淲e have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.” He added, 鈥淥ur crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team.鈥�
The Pentagon referred The Associated Press to the Air Force for comment. The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Federal Aviation Administration to U.S. aircraft urging them to 鈥渆xercise caution鈥� when in Venezuelan airspace, 鈥渄ue to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.鈥�
According to the air traffic recording, the controller responded to the pilot, 鈥淚t has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
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