JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao to New York JFK nearly came into contact with a U.S. Air Force air-to-air refueling tanker near Venezuela. Curaçao is just off Venezuela’s coast. And the tanker is being called an “invisible US military aircraft.”
While climbing through 33,000 feet, the JetBlue pilots reported traffic crossing directly in front of them, close enough that they halted the climb to avoid a collision. They describe it to air traffic control as “within 5 miles — maybe 2 or 3 miles” and “at our altitude.” The JetBlue pilot said the tanker did not have its transponder on. The tanker then headed into Venezuelan airspace.
JetBlue says it reported the incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation. However investigations aren’t likely going anywhere, though controllers confirmed:
- The military aircraft was at 34,000 feet
- The JetBlue aircraft halted its climb around 33,300 feet
- And the incident is considered “a near midair collision”
The incident is tied to increased military activity in the region as the U.S. puts pressure on Venezuela for regime change. The FAA had recently warned U.S. aircraft to “exercise caution” in Venezuelan airspace.
— Sir Listenalot (@SirListenalot) December 14, 2025
Ultimately this isn’t an “invisible” plane in the supernatural sense – it’s an “uncooperative target.” If an aircraft isn’t squawking (or isn’t ADS-B Out), then civilian controllers may not get an identified, altitude-tagged track. That forces everyone else to deconflict visually, which is what the JetBlue crew is complaining about.
The JetBlue Airbus A320 arrived in New York four hours later.
(HT: @crucker)
When you have an alcoholic in charge of the Pentagon making Xbox moves, what do you think is going to happen? Surprised they haven’t blown-up a cruise ship by now.
Why is the air force in the vicinity of Venezuela? Oh, yeah, for the oil and, of course, regime change.
I can understand the military plane not having a transponder on, but the military plane is described as an air force tanker (i.e. not a stealth plane), very odd that it didn’t show up on ATC’s radar.
@Mike P — Seems so. Iraq 2.0. Wag the dog. Perhaps, libertarians and progressives can unite to deny the neocons and corporate uniparty this. Or, we’re just along for the ride again.
Just for a little perspective, 1.25 million Americans have died of illicit drug use in the past 20 years, about the same number of US military deaths in all our wars going back 250 years to the Revolutionary War. And the losses are not slowing; 105,000 died in the most recent year for which we have data (2023). This excludes those who have died due to violence related to the drug trade, or to suicide related to addiction, etc. There’s room to argue how we address those how provide and profit from these deaths, including foreign governments, but no room to argue we should not address the supply side of the equation. This isn’t about oil.
Correction: 1.25 million over the last 25 years, not 20 years.
Mark F. How does that square with the pardon of a convicted cartel head and the fact that fentanyl, from China, NOT Venezuela, is the primary OD problem? It doesn’t. MAGA will defend anything dear leader tells them to. Blow up boats not a threat, murder the survivors, no problem..history will not be kind
If this wretched administration of gangsters is truly intent on regime change in Venezuela, may it be America’s next Vietnam. It will be a sight to see its military plucked off the rooftops of Caracas buildings a-la fall of Saigon.
As to the incident with the B6 plane, the US military is 100% at fault and putting everyone’s lives at risk.
“…1.25 million Americans have died of illicit drug use in the past 20 years, about the same number of US military deaths in all our wars going back 250 years…”
A classic example of “comparing apples to oranges”. The former is the result of individuals making free choices for themselves, while the latter is caused by our “leaders” and their propensity for waging unending wars.
“This isn’t about oil.” Yes, it is!
Finally, everything Trump is doing will have zero effect on the flow of drugs into this country. The “drug war” ramped up over 50 years ago, and nothing they’ve done since has put a dent in the supply. Don’t be naive.
Venezuela has nothing to worry about – the US is just conducting a Special Operation. No reason for Putin to worry about his buddy Maduro.
@MarkF I have very bad news. The war on drugs has been and continues to be a complete failure. I dont know if your figure for example includes the ones that have died through drugs COMMERCIALLY SOLD by companies that, on top of everything, managed to get deals to limit their criminal liability. Its not JUST about oil, it includes a lot of other things (media distractions which lately come at a rate of 2 or 3 /week to make people forget about other things, legitimate concerns about terrorism/drugs, OIL, immigration issues etc). While everything else is “addressed” lets hope there are no accidents due to incompetency.
Looking at the radar track there was no threat to either plane. Pilot of JetBlue was being a drama queen and wanted attention. I would imagine that the JetBlue Pilot has the same sentiment as the comments I have read here. I’ve lived in Venezuela for the past 21 years and regardless if this is about oil, gold, or diamonds or what your thoughts are about this administration I can honestly say I hope this administration does take out Maduro. Because the BS Sanctions on Venezuela only hurts the citizens and does nothing to Maduro or the other Chavistas.
Nice to see the faux-intellectual neo-cons like @Mark F and the isolationist libertarians like @Mike P duke it out for once. Y’all are making us progressives smile a little. I mean, this admin will continue to abuse power, not get Constitutionally-mandated congressional approval, and we’re still going to war anyway, but, gotta look at the bright side.
@Victor: I can’t make sense of the pardon either. As to the source of fentanyl, China primarily produces precursor chemicals which are sold to cartels in South and Cetral America. Even the fentanyl that China does make is channelled through the cartels, rather than going straight to the US. The sear, land and air routes from South and Central America represent vulnerable choke points in the drug trade, but we need to go after China, too. Trump claims to be hectoring Xi on this front, but I think there’s too much trade ($$$) between the countries for our government to be willing to get really tough.
@Jmichaleson; the figures are for illicit drugs, not legally approved drugs. There are no reliable figures on deaths from approved drugs, but they are rigorously tested at an average cost per drug of exceeding $500 million prior to approval and must be demonstrated to be safe and effective for the approved indication. They must show a positive risk:benefit ratio vs no treatment and at least equal to existing treatments.
Manufacturers always have liability for their product. Even when the drug is made as a generic by another company unrelated to the original sponsor, the sponsor company retains partial liability. You may be thinking of vaccines where there is a first step claims process that goes to a government agency which is funded by a tax on vaccine manufacturers. Even here, if the claim is denied, the patient can sue in court and win if s/he demonstrates the manufacturer withheld information or lied in the approval process or in advertising.
As regards the war on drugs, its like saying that medical care is losing the war on death since we all die. How many people would die younger if there were no medical war on death.
You can’t a-priori trust any information you get from any news outlet. Fact check their claims on important topics yourself.
@Mark F — You’re not wrong that Mexico is the ‘cook,’ but China provides the ‘ingredients.’ In November 2025, there was that supposed ‘trade deal,’ where the US cut fentanyl-related tariffs in exchange for China finally tightening export controls on those. But, we’ll see if any of that is enforced or not. Seems very ‘performative’ to me. (That’s what Xi said…)
As to the drugs topics, uh, those FDA approvals are often more expensive than you estimate, more like $1-2+ billion per drug, once you factor in the cost of failure for all those that don’t make it. Also, manufacturers are definitely not ‘always’ liable for generics. The ‘partial liability’ you’re referring to is only recognized in a few states, CA and MA. Most of the US follows PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing (2011), where generic makers can’t be sued for ‘failure to warn’ because federal law forces them to use the brand-name’s exact label. (Conflict between state and federal law.)
Finally, I’m not buying your ‘war on death’ metaphor. Medical care is a necessary response (and, yeah, we’re all gonna die, someday). Whereas, the ‘War on Drugs’ is a policy choice, and a bad one, so far. Whether it’s alcohol or these illicit substances, prohibition usually creates ‘poisoned supply’ that makes drug use far more lethal than it would be under a regulated or harm-reduction model. I don’t have all the answers, but attacking Venezuela over this is a sad distraction. It’s Iraq 2.0.