A PASSENGER plane was forced to take evasive action after it nearly crashed mid-air into a US military jet.
The JetBlue pilot was travelling to New York City from Curaçao, an island off the coast of Venezuela, when the jet passed “directly in its flightpath”.
He described the close encounter, which took place over the Caribbean, as “outrageous”.
He said: “They passed directly in our flight path.
“We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within five miles of us, maybe two or three 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.”
The pilot claimed the military aircraft did not have its transponder on.
Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said: “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.”
He added that the incident was reported to federal authorities and agreed to participate in any investigation.
The military plane was reportedly headed into Venezuelan airspace. The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It comes as the US seeks to increase pressure on Venezuela’s government as Donald Trump continues his war on drugs.
Last month the Federal Aviation Administration urged major airlines to exercise caution when flying over Venezuela.
The notice cited a “potentially hazardous situation” due to “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela”.
It read: “Threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight, the arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or airports and aircraft on the ground.”
According to the air traffic recording, the controller responded to the JetBlue pilot, “It has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air”.
There has been a massive American military build-up in the region in recent months as tensions between Washington and Caracas escalate.
This includes the US Navy‘s largest aircraft carrier, at least eight other warships, and F-35 aircraft.
Washington’s war on “narco-terrorists” has also seen dozens of deadly boat blitzes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels, and thousands of marines deployed to the region.
White House sources said the US would likely use covert operations as the first part of any action taken against Maduro.
Another White House official said Trump was “not ruling anything out”.
The source said: “President Trump is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”
Direct flights by US passenger or cargo carriers to Venezuela have been suspended since 2019, but some American airlines fly over the country for some South American flights.
Donald Trump previously suggested airspace around the country should be considered closed.
The President wrote on Truth Social last month: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
The country’s foreign ministry said Trump’s comments were “another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people.”
