A JetBlue flight from the Caribbean island of Curaçao to New York City’s JFK Airport narrowly avoided a “midair collision” with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker on Friday. “We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us ... it was an air-to-air refueler from the United States Air Force, and he was at our altitude,” a JetBlue pilot said, according to a recorded conversation with air traffic controllers. “We had to stop our climb,” the pilot continued, as the JetBlue plane halted its ascent to avoid a collision. “They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous,” the pilot can be heard saying, adding that the Air Force plane was headed to Venezuela, where the U.S. has stepped up its anti-drug operations. The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment but received no immediate response. “We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation,” JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said on Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning in November urging flight operators to “exercise caution” because of “the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.”
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