A JetBlue passenger jet bound for New York took evasive action on Friday to avoid a mid-air collision with a US Air Force tanker plane near Venezuela, a pilot said in an air traffic control recording.
JetBlue Flight 1112 had departed the Caribbean nation of Curacao and was flying about 40 miles (64 km) off the coast of Venezuela when the Airbus A320 reported encountering the Air Force jet, which did not have its transponder activated, according to the recording captured by liveatc.net.
The Air Force pilot was within a few miles of the plane and at the same altitude, the JetBlue pilot said on the recording. “They passed directly in our flight path… They don’t have their transponder turned on. It’s outrageous,” the pilot said.
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Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz noted on Monday that an Army helicopter had collided with an American Airlines AAL.O flight on January 29 near Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people, and was not using an advanced tracking technology called an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system, also known as ADS-B. “Why do we continue to tolerate near misses?” Cruz said of the JetBlue incident.
Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the committee, also said the JetBlue incident raised concerns and the public needed a better system. “This is not acceptable,” Cantwell said. “You don’t have corridors where military aircraft and commercial planes are flying and then not letting each other know that they are in that space. We just can’t have that.”
The senators spoke on Monday at a press conference as they push to remove a provision from a must-pass annual defense bill that they say would weaken air safety by allowing military aircraft to operate in Washington, DC, airspace without transmitting ADS-B information.
A JetBlue spokesperson said on Monday the company’s top priority was safety.
“Our crew members are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team. We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.”
The incident happened as the United States has mounted a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean as President Donald Trump campaigns to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, pushing relations to their most volatile point in years.
US Southern Command said in a statement on Monday that it was aware of the incident and reviewing the matter.
The military added its “aircrews are highly trained professionals who operate in accordance with established procedures and applicable airspace requirements. Safety remains a top priority, and we are working through the appropriate channels to assess the facts surrounding the situation.”
Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela and urged them to exercise caution. Major airlines from around the world have halted flights as tensions have worsened and Trump has threatened to begin hitting land targets in Venezuela.
The FAA did not immediately comment on Monday on the JetBlue incident.
