JetBlue A320 & “Invisible” US Air Force Jet Have “Outrageous” Close Call

A JetBlue pilot reported a near mid-air collision after departing the Caribbean… and it was with a US Air Force jet!

JetBlue A320 encounters US Air Force jet departing Curaçao

This incident happened on Friday, December 12, 2025, and involves JetBlue flight B61112, flying from Curaçao (CUR) to New York (JFK). The flight was operated by an Airbus A320 with the registration code N809JB.

After a routine departure, the A320 was climbing through around 33,000 feet for its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, when the crew spotted a US Air Force tanker immediately ahead of them, in close proximity, and in their flight path.

The US Air Force plane’s transponder wasn’t transmitting, so this was purely a visual discovery. The fact that they could tell exactly what kind of plane it was tells you how close they were. In the interaction between the JetBlue pilot and the air traffic controller, the pilot makes the following comments:

• “We just had traffic pass directly in front of us, within five miles of us, maybe two or three miles. But it was an air-to-air refueler from the United States Air Force, and he was at our altitude, we had to stop our climb.”
• “They’re heading off the northeast right now, they passed directly in our flight path. We had to stop our climb, they are not painting, they don’t have their transponder turned on. It’s outrageous.”
• “If you can make a note of it, we almost had a mid-air collision.”

The air traffic controller confirmed that he also didn’t see the plane on his radar, and commented how it’s “outrageous” having “an unidentified aircraft within our airspace, you are totally right.” Both the pilot and air traffic controller stated that they’d file reports about the incident.

The A320 ended up continuing its climb after the incident, and completed its flight to New York, where it landed safely at 8PM, after a 4hr22min flight.

Presumably this involves Venezuela operations

Several weeks back, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), warning of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela. Per the warning:

OPERATORS ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN OPERATING IN THE MAIQUETIA FLIGHT INFORMATION REGION AT ALL ALTITUDES DUE TO THE WORSENING SECURITY SITUATION AND HEIGHTENED MILITARY ACTIVITY IN OR AROUND VENEZUELA. THREATS COULD POSE A POTENTIAL RISK TO AIRCRAFT AT ALL ALTITUDES, INCLUDING DURING OVERFLIGHT, THE ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE PHASES OF FLIGHT, AND/OR AIRPORTS AND AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND.

While no airlines from the United States fly to Venezuela, this warning caused several foreign airlines to suspend flights to the country. Curaçao is very close to Venezuela, so I have to assume that the US Air Force jet that crossed in the path of the JetBlue plane was involved in some sort of Venezuela operation.

I understand the need for these planes to not appear on the standard radar, though it also seems like more caution should be taken to avoid getting in the way of commercial airliners. Or is the recommendation that all service should be suspended to places like Curaçao, Trinidad & Tobago, etc.?

In theory, military aircraft have the concept of “due regard,” whereby they operate outside of standard civil air traffic control separation rules, and they take full responsibility for avoiding traffic. While that sounds great in theory, let me remind everyone of the tragedy we saw at Washington National Airport (DCA) earlier this year, whereby a military helicopter was supposed to maintain separation from commercial aircraft. That ended with 67 fatalities.

Bottom line

A JetBlue Airbus A320 pilot reported a near mid-air collision after a US Air Force jet passed just a short distance in front of the plane while climbing out of Curaçao. The pilot called this “outrageous,” and both the pilot and controller said they’d file a report.

It’s my understanding that this isn’t the only such incident that has occurred in the region in recent times, so it seems like some more precautions should be taken. Either that could come in the form of banning US airlines from operating in certain airspace (since the US is the country issuing these warnings, and performing military operations), or perhaps simply having US Air Force jets take more precautions.

What do you make of this close call over the Caribbean Sea?