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A JetBlue flight departing from a Caribbean holiday destination almost ended in disaster after coming dangerously close to a US Air Force plane.
The passenger flight, leaving from Curaçao, was forced to change altitude to avoid a mid-air collision with a US Air Force plane that had its transponder turned off.
‘We almost had a midair collision up here,’ the pilot said.
‘We had to stop our climb. They don’t have their transponder turned on; it’s outrageous.’
The air traffic controller replied: ‘We’ll do a report on our end, too, but they did not have their transponder turned on, so there’s no way for you to have seen them.’
It’s believed the US plane was refuelling mid-air, but with its GPS location turned off for security reasons, it could have ended in disaster.
JetBlue said in a statement: ‘Our crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team.’
The near disaster comes as US forces are concentrating in the Caribbean for Operation Southern Command, as tensions with Venezuela continue to grow.
US military spokesman Colonel Emanuel L. Ortiz said: ‘Military 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.’
Military planes often turn off their transponders if they’re going on a highly sensitive mission, but in shared airspace, it’s vital that planes share their location with one another.
Why are US planes in the Caribbean?
Operation Southern Spear, ordered by Trump and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, is aimed at stopping illegal drugs from entering the United States from South America.
The operation includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines congregating in the Caribbean, with US forces having conducted bomber flights near Venezuela already.
The US government is targeting Venezuela because they don’t view President Nicolas Maduro as a legitimate leader.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, is ‘responsible for terrorist violence’ in the Western Hemisphere.
Maduro denies being involved, but the designation is the latest attempt by Trump to stop drug trafficking into the US.
Rumours have also circulated for a while that Trump wants to push for regime change to unseat Maduro, who has accused the US of ‘fabricating a new eternal war’.
Trump, if he chooses to begin actually striking Venezuela with weapons, would likely target facilities belonging to Maduro’s regime or criminal gangs in a bid to stop this.
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