A JetBlue plane bound for New York had to stop climbing Friday after a U.S. Air Force tanker snuck straight into its flight path. The pilot told local air‑traffic control that the situation was “outrageous” and he’s been left re‑adjusting his route to avoid a mid‑air collision.
“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the pilot of Flight 1112, which was taking off from Curacao en route to JFK, said in a conversation that was released this week. “They passed directly in our flight path…They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.”
He went on to explain that the tanker crossed within just a few miles of the JetBlue airliner. “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. We had to stop our climb.”
A controller responded that the unknown aircraft in their airspace had been “outrageous” as well, prompting the JetBlue crew to hold their ascent.
The incident came at a time when the U.S. military has carried out nearly thirty sorties against suspected drug‑trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Those operations, part of a campaign to pressure Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, have already claimed more than 80 lives.
Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration warned U.S. aircraft to “exercise caution” when operating near Venezuelan airspace because “of the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.”
The Pentagon has passed off a request for comment to the Air Force, which has yet to respond. Curacao, a small island under Dutch rule, sits just 40 miles north of Venezuela’s coast.
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