A private jet pilot narrowly avoided colliding with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker near Venezuela on Saturday, a day after a similar accident occurred nearby, according to radio communications reviewed by CNN.
The pilot of a Falcon 900EX business jet flying from Aruba to Miami reported to air traffic controllers in Curaçao shortly after the accident Saturday afternoon that he nearly collided with the plane, according to audio captured by LiveATC.net.
“They were very close,” one of the pilots told air traffic controllers about the encounter at about 26,000 feet. “We were climbing steeply into him,” said the unidentified pilot. “It was big. It was probably a 777 or (767).”
CNN has reached out to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Southern Command for comment.
The incident is the second near-collision reported near Venezuela in the past two days. On Friday, the pilots of JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curacao to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport radioed to air traffic controllers saying they were forced to halt their soar after a U.S. Air Force aerial refueling tanker crossed directly in front of their flight path with its location-reporting transponder turned off.
The Pentagon and Dutch aviation authorities said they were reviewing the earlier JetBlue incident. In a statement to CNN, U.S. Southern Command said it was “aware of recent reports regarding operations by U.S. military aircraft in the Caribbean and is currently reviewing the matter.”
The National Transportation Safety Board told CNN it is aware of both incidents and is gathering information.
Curaçao is located approximately 40 miles north of the coast of Venezuela.
Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory warning U.S. airlines of increased military activity at all altitudes near Venezuela. It repeated its warning on Tuesday.
“Threats can pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflights, during the arrival and departure phases of flights, and at ground-based airports and aircraft,” the report said.
Several international airlines canceled flights from Venezuela following the FAA’s warning last month. Copa Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would extend the suspension of flights to and from Caracas until January 15 “due to the operational situation at Maiquetia International Airport.”
Curaçao is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Dutch Safety Board said it was aware of the incident in Curacao’s airspace.
