Sorry, your browser does not support videos.
(New York) The American company JetBlue announced Monday that it had reported to the authorities an in-flight incident, one of its pilots having claimed to have had to change his trajectory to avoid a collision with a refueling plane of the American army, off the coast of Venezuela.
Published at
This report comes against a backdrop of tensions between the United States and Venezuela, the American army having mobilized significant forces around the Bolivarian Republic.
The American government particularly criticizes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, re-elected in 2024 following a vote with results contested by the international community, of controlling vast drug trafficking.
The leader has always refuted these allegations, saying that Washington was using them as a pretext to overthrow him and get its hands on the country’s immense oil reserves.
On Friday, one of the pilots of a JetBlue flight connecting the Caribbean island of Curaçao and New York reported, by radio to air traffic control, that he had to interrupt his ascent after detecting a US Air Force refueling plane.
Still according to the pilot, whose conversation with the controllers was recorded and is available on the LiveATC.net site, the military aircraft had not activated its transponder, the transceiver which allows air traffic to locate it.
“We almost had a collision,” explains the pilot. “It’s scandalous. »
“Scandalous,” replied the air traffic controller. “You are absolutely right. »
Asked by AFP, JetBlue welcomed the initiative of the crew having “promptly reported this incident” to their superiors, who reported it “to the federal authorities”. The American company “will contribute to any investigation” into the circumstances of this crossover.
The American military command dedicated to this region, US Southern Command, explained to AFP that it was “studying” the matter, while recalling that “security (remained its) absolute priority”.
At the end of November, the Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency, the FAA, asked flights operating in the region where Venezuela is located to “exercise caution”.
She justified this opinion by “a deterioration of security conditions and a strengthening of military activity in Venezuela and its surroundings”.
The FAA had mentioned “threats that could pose a risk to (commercial) aircraft at all altitudes, whether in flight, landing and takeoff”.
