The incident involved JetBlue Airways Flight 1112, which was heading from Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela, to JFK Airport in New York City.
Published December 14, 2025
A JetBlue plane departing from the small Caribbean island of Curaçao on Friday halted its climb to avoid a collision with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker, and the JetBlue pilot accused the military plane of crossing its path.
“We almost had a mid-air collision here,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recorded conversation with air traffic control. “They were directly in our flight path… They didn’t have their transponders turned on. That’s outrageous.”
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The incident comes as the U.S. military is ramping up its anti-drug operations in the Caribbean and increasing pressure on the Venezuelan government.
“There was traffic passing right in front of us, within five miles of us, maybe two or three miles, and it was a U.S. Air Force air-to-air refueling plane, and he was at our altitude,” the pilot said. “We had to cancel the climb.”
The U.S. Air Force plane then entered Venezuelan airspace, the pilot said.
JetBlue spokesman Derek Dombrowski said Sunday: “We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.”
He added: “Our flight crews are trained on the appropriate procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate the crew members who promptly reported this situation to our leadership team.”
The Pentagon has contacted the Air Force for comment. The Air Force did not respond to requests for comment.
Last month, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned US military aircraft to “exercise caution” in Venezuelan airspace “due to the deteriorating security situation and increased military activity in and around Venezuela.”
“We have an unidentified aircraft in our airspace,” the controller told the JetBlue pilot, according to air traffic records.
