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

The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curacao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City’s JFK airport.Published On 14 Dec 2025A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curacao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a US Air Force refuelling tanker on Friday, with the JetBlue pilot blaming the military plane for crossing his path.“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot said, 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.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Venezuela oil exports fall steeply after US forces seize tanker off coastlist 2 of 4Colombia’s ELN rebels prepare for battle amid Trump ‘intervention’ threatlist 3 of 4Why the US is targeting Venezuelalist 4 of 4‘Maduro will leave power’: Machado vows Venezuela leadership changeend of listIt comes as the US military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on the Venezuelan government.“We just had traffic pass directly in front of us, within 5 miles [8km] of us – maybe 2 or 3 miles [3 or 5km] – but it was an air-to air refueller from the United States Air Force, and he was at our altitude,” the pilot said. “We had to stop our climb.”The pilot said the US Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan airspace.Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said on Sunday: “We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.”He added, “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.”The Pentagon referred The Associated Press agency to the Air Force for comment. The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The US Federal Aviation Administration last month issued a warning to US aircraft, urging them to “exercise caution” when in Venezuelan airspace, “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela”.