A refueling aircraft with its transponder reportedly off flew dangerously close to a JetBlue airliner<\/p>\n
A passenger airliner nearly collided mid-flight with a US military aircraft near the Venezuelan coast on Friday, the Associated Press and the New York Times have reported, citing radio communications and flight tracking data.
\nThe incident occurred amid a US naval buildup in the Caribbean and US President Donald Trump\u2019s threats to strike \u201cnarcoterrorists\u201d on Venezuelan soil.
\nJetBlue Flight 1112 reportedly encountered a US Air Force refueling tanker while traveling from Cura\u00e7ao, a small island off the coast of Venezuela, to New York City\u2019s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
\nTwenty minutes after takeoff, the airliner suddenly lost altitude mid-climb. \u201cWe almost had a midair collision up here,\u201d the JetBlue pilot was quoted as saying. \u201cThey passed directly in our flight path … They don\u2019t have their transponder turned on; it\u2019s outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump teases land strikes in Venezuela \u2018soon\u2019<\/p>\n
JetBlue spokesman Derek Dombrowski said on Sunday that the airline had reported the incident to the authorities. \u201cOur 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,\u201d he said.
\nUS Southern Command spokesman Colonel Manny Ortiz said they were \u201caware of the recent reporting regarding US military aircraft operations in the Caribbean and are currently reviewing the matter.\u201d He added that safety remained a top priority and that the military was \u201cworking through the appropriate channels to assess the facts surrounding the situation.\u201d
\nSince September, the US military has killed more than 80 people in strikes on alleged cartel boats, which Trump claimed were being used by the Venezuelan government to \u201cflood\u201d\u00a0America with narcotics.
\nVenezuela has denied any involvement in drug trafficking and said the strikes were part of a \u201ccolonialist\u201d plan to topple President Nicolas Maduro and plunder the country\u2019s natural resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A refueling aircraft with its transponder reportedly off flew dangerously close to a JetBlue airliner A passenger airliner nearly collided mid-flight with a US military aircraft near the Venezuelan coast…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t