WASHINGTON – A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curaçao halted its ascent to keep away from colliding with a U.S. Air Power refueling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the army aircraft for crossing his path.
“We virtually had a midair collision up right here,” the JetBlue pilot stated, based on a recording of his dialog with air visitors management. “They handed straight in our flight path. … They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.”
The incident concerned JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao, which is simply off the coast of Venezuela, en path to New York Metropolis’s JFK airport. It comes because the U.S. army has stepped up its drug interdiction actions within the Caribbean and can be looking for to improve strain on Venezuela’s authorities.
“We simply had visitors go straight in entrance of us inside 5 miles of us — possibly 2 or 3 miles — nevertheless it was an air-to air-refueler from the USA Air Power and he was at our altitude,” the pilot stated. “We needed to cease our climb.” The pilot stated the Air Power aircraft then headed into Venezuelan air house.
Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, stated Sunday: “We have now reported this incident to federal authorities and can take part in any investigation.” He added, “Our crewmembers are skilled on correct procedures for varied flight conditions, and we respect our crew for promptly reporting this case to our management group.”
The Pentagon referred The Related Press to the Air Power for remark. The Air Power didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
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Related Press author Ben Finley contributed to this report.
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