Washington [US], December 16: A JetBlue (JBLU.O), opens new tab passenger jet bound for New York took evasive action on Friday to avoid a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force tanker plane near Venezuela, a pilot said in an air traffic control recording.
JetBlue Flight 1112 had departed the Caribbean nation of Curacao and was flying about 40 miles (64 km) off the coast of Venezuela when the Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab A320 reported encountering the Air Force jet, which did not have its transponder activated, according to the recording captured by liveatc.net.
The Air Force pilot was within a few miles of the plane and at the same altitude, the JetBlue pilot said on the recording.
The Air Force jet then entered Venezuelan airspace, the JetBlue pilot said. "We almost had a mid-air collision up here."
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz noted on Monday that an Army helicopter had collided with an American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab flight on January 29 near Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people, and was not using an advanced tracking technology called an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system, also known as ADS-B. "Why do we continue to tolerate near misses?" Cruz said of the JetBlue incident.
Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the committee, also said the JetBlue incident raised concerns and the public needed a better system. "This is not acceptable," Cantwell said. "You don't have corridors where military aircraft and commercial planes are flying and then not letting each other know that they are in that space. We just can't have that."
The senators spoke on Monday at a press conference as they push to remove a provision from a must-pass annual defense bill that they say would weaken air safety by allowing military aircraft to operate in Washington, DC, airspace without transmitting ADS-B information.
A JetBlue spokesperson said on Monday the company's top priority was safety.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
