5 ms·

Pilot narrowly avoids 'midair collision' with US Air Force plane near Venezuela

32 points by prmph 10mo ago

prmph 10mo ago
JetBlue pilot calls incident ‘outrageous’ and says US military refueling tanker didn’t have transponder turned on
toomuchtodo 10mo ago
https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/20251212/2045Z/TNCC/KJFK https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/2025... https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1pm83dv/pilots_report_nearcollision_with_us_military/ https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1pm83dv/pilots_re... https://youtu.be/bUcs1LCjhcs https://youtu.be/bUcs1LCjhcs
- appreciatorBus 10mo ago
  Track log here https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/20251212/2045Z/TNCC/KJFK/tracklog https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/2025... You can see the rate of climb change from 2000 feet per minuteto 220 feet per minute before resuming.
_jzlw 10mo ago
"Outrageous" is an understatement. Why does it always seem like military aircraft get a free-pass to break FAA regulations, communicate with no one when in shared airspace, and endanger the lives of everyone in civilian aircraft without any repercussions? This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it doesn't always end in a near-miss.
- goku12 10mo ago
  An aerial refueler flying so close to Venezuela [1] can't have been there with the best intentions. I don't think that they're too keen on advertising their presence or whereabouts. I know that some here absolutely hate any suggestions that the US military is capable of any evil. But you're getting very sanitized news. Even otherwise, they have already murdered 80+ Venezuelan civilians in international waters and we don't even know if they were actually guilty of drug trafficking, since those were extra-judicial executions. And at least two of them were murdered in a double tap attack, which is an international war crime, regardless. [1] It was Curaçao to be precise, but it's still oddly close to Venezuela.
  - JBiserkov 10mo ago
    > An aerial refueler flying so close to Venezuela can't have been there with the best intentions. I don't think that they're too keen on advertising their presence or whereabouts. Which is precisely why they should avoid flying INTO civilian aircraft. Imagine if that refueler had stayed away from the JetBlue, we wouldn't be talking about it ;-)
    - goku12 10mo ago
      Absolutely agreed. But the midair collision that happened at the Ronald Reagan Intl airport (DCA) in Washington DC in February doesn't really give me the confidence that they care that much. Especially given how furious the senior NTSB official Jennifer Homendy was at both the military and the FAA.
- zokier 10mo ago
  > military aircraft get a free-pass to break FAA regulations Because FAA regulations literally do not apply to military aircraft. FAA regulates civilian aviation.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
wmf 10mo ago
If we're going to have an unannounced war we should at least file NOTAMs.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- goku12 10mo ago
  Wouldn't that make it an announced war? I mean, technically a NOTAM doesn't declare the intention of a war. But one under the current circumstances is not just an unofficial declaration of a war, it's also an invitation to search that area. An aerial refueler isn't that hard a target to find either.
  - tsudonym 10mo ago
    Even Iran and Israel filed NOTAMs during their war in June
    - goku12 10mo ago
      How considerate of them! That aside, comparisons with 'even' Iran or Israel is not very meaningful for US these days. Granted, both committed some very serious atrocities. But I don't remember Israel just arbitrarily blowing up every flotilla headed for Palestine. Meanwhile, the US administration treats small boats off the Venezuelan coast like targets of a duck hunt or something. The way they joke about it on TV is sickening, to say the least. Even if you take civilian aviation activities, the US standards are a rather low bar these days. For example, when you launch a space vehicle, you usually notify via NOTAM, the entire region where it might fall in case of a failure or destruct. But how many times has Starship fallen outside the notified area? We even have videos of flaming streaming wreckage, taken from commercial airliners. That's absolutely insane, if you ask me! Have you seen how ridiculously tiny the notified area was? That too for a vehicle that had never worked properly before that. It's a display of pure hubris and lack of concern. And then you have the jaw dropping revelation that there was nearly one near-collision between a military aircraft and a commercial civilian airliner over the Potomac near DCA every month for 13 years, till a pair finally collided killing 67 innocent people. I mean, who is taking all these unbelievable decisions? I thought each near-miss is supposed to be treated as seriously as a full crash. Do you need 2 such incidents, much less ~150 before your alarm bells go off? And when it inevitably fails, you see the culprits running for a scapegoat, like what Boeing tried to do with the pilots of the crashed 737 Max-8 aircrafts. Clearly, somebody is not getting the message here. All concerns about human lives have gone out the window. How many more?
mcny 10mo ago
Maybe I am thinking about this the wrong way so please correct me if I am wrong. 1. The civilian planes fly on pre published routes and communicate with air traffic controllers in plain text 1. Any covert military operation has access to these plans 1. I understand that there may be reasons why military planes might want to fly undetected but given they know where the civilian planes are and where they are flying, it should be trivial for the military ships and planes to avoid those areas.
- goku12 10mo ago
  > 1. The civilian planes fly on pre published routes and communicate with air traffic controllers in plain text That's called a flight plan. It's just a declaration of intent, so that the ATCs know that you're expected. There are many valid reasons for deviating from the flight plan. For example, technical difficulties, bad weather, last minute diversions etc. That makes it very unreliable to predict the aircraft's location. You have to rely on your radar instead. The Military has some of the best radars around - especially on AEW&CS aircrafts and ships that stay close to conflict zones at all times. > 1. I understand that there may be reasons why military planes might want to fly undetected but given they know where the civilian planes are and where they are flying, it should be trivial for the military ships and planes to avoid those areas. Did you know that the Ronald Reagan Intl airport (DCA) saw one 'close call' between a civilian airliner and a military helicopter every month for the 13 year period from 2011 to 2024? [1]. That's close to 150 near disasters in total, for consecutive months for more than a decade! This is ridiculous! Clearly, it's not a question if they can stay clear to avoid an incident. It's a question of if anyone cares at all. [1] https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324543/ntsb-dca-mid-air-collision-american-black-hawk https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324543/ntsb-dca-mid-ai...
  - ranger_danger 10mo ago
    The pilots have ipads and internet connections... can't they just have it check e.g. flightaware or similar tool for nearby aircraft and keep them alerted if something is getting too close?
basisword 10mo ago
I wonder what illegal activities/war crimes the USAF is up to in Venezuela this time?
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

32 points by prmph 10mo ago

prmph 10mo ago

JetBlue pilot calls incident ‘outrageous’ and says US military refueling tanker didn’t have transponder turned on

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/20251212/2045Z/TNCC/KJFK https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/2025... https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1pm83dv/pilots_report_nearcollision_with_us_military/ https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1pm83dv/pilots_re... https://youtu.be/bUcs1LCjhcs https://youtu.be/bUcs1LCjhcs

appreciatorBus 10mo ago
Track log here https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/20251212/2045Z/TNCC/KJFK/tracklog https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU1112/history/2025... You can see the rate of climb change from 2000 feet per minuteto 220 feet per minute before resuming.

_jzlw 10mo ago

"Outrageous" is an understatement. Why does it always seem like military aircraft get a free-pass to break FAA regulations, communicate with no one when in shared airspace, and endanger the lives of everyone in civilian aircraft without any repercussions? This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it doesn't always end in a near-miss.

goku12 10mo ago
An aerial refueler flying so close to Venezuela [1] can't have been there with the best intentions. I don't think that they're too keen on advertising their presence or whereabouts. I know that some here absolutely hate any suggestions that the US military is capable of any evil. But you're getting very sanitized news. Even otherwise, they have already murdered 80+ Venezuelan civilians in international waters and we don't even know if they were actually guilty of drug trafficking, since those were extra-judicial executions. And at least two of them were murdered in a double tap attack, which is an international war crime, regardless. [1] It was Curaçao to be precise, but it's still oddly close to Venezuela.
- JBiserkov 10mo ago
  > An aerial refueler flying so close to Venezuela can't have been there with the best intentions. I don't think that they're too keen on advertising their presence or whereabouts. Which is precisely why they should avoid flying INTO civilian aircraft. Imagine if that refueler had stayed away from the JetBlue, we wouldn't be talking about it ;-)
  - goku12 10mo ago
    Absolutely agreed. But the midair collision that happened at the Ronald Reagan Intl airport (DCA) in Washington DC in February doesn't really give me the confidence that they care that much. Especially given how furious the senior NTSB official Jennifer Homendy was at both the military and the FAA.
zokier 10mo ago
> military aircraft get a free-pass to break FAA regulations Because FAA regulations literally do not apply to military aircraft. FAA regulates civilian aviation.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

wmf 10mo ago

If we're going to have an unannounced war we should at least file NOTAMs.

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
goku12 10mo ago
Wouldn't that make it an announced war? I mean, technically a NOTAM doesn't declare the intention of a war. But one under the current circumstances is not just an unofficial declaration of a war, it's also an invitation to search that area. An aerial refueler isn't that hard a target to find either.
- tsudonym 10mo ago
  Even Iran and Israel filed NOTAMs during their war in June
  - goku12 10mo ago
    How considerate of them! That aside, comparisons with 'even' Iran or Israel is not very meaningful for US these days. Granted, both committed some very serious atrocities. But I don't remember Israel just arbitrarily blowing up every flotilla headed for Palestine. Meanwhile, the US administration treats small boats off the Venezuelan coast like targets of a duck hunt or something. The way they joke about it on TV is sickening, to say the least. Even if you take civilian aviation activities, the US standards are a rather low bar these days. For example, when you launch a space vehicle, you usually notify via NOTAM, the entire region where it might fall in case of a failure or destruct. But how many times has Starship fallen outside the notified area? We even have videos of flaming streaming wreckage, taken from commercial airliners. That's absolutely insane, if you ask me! Have you seen how ridiculously tiny the notified area was? That too for a vehicle that had never worked properly before that. It's a display of pure hubris and lack of concern. And then you have the jaw dropping revelation that there was nearly one near-collision between a military aircraft and a commercial civilian airliner over the Potomac near DCA every month for 13 years, till a pair finally collided killing 67 innocent people. I mean, who is taking all these unbelievable decisions? I thought each near-miss is supposed to be treated as seriously as a full crash. Do you need 2 such incidents, much less ~150 before your alarm bells go off? And when it inevitably fails, you see the culprits running for a scapegoat, like what Boeing tried to do with the pilots of the crashed 737 Max-8 aircrafts. Clearly, somebody is not getting the message here. All concerns about human lives have gone out the window. How many more?

mcny 10mo ago

Maybe I am thinking about this the wrong way so please correct me if I am wrong. 1. The civilian planes fly on pre published routes and communicate with air traffic controllers in plain text 1. Any covert military operation has access to these plans 1. I understand that there may be reasons why military planes might want to fly undetected but given they know where the civilian planes are and where they are flying, it should be trivial for the military ships and planes to avoid those areas.

goku12 10mo ago
> 1. The civilian planes fly on pre published routes and communicate with air traffic controllers in plain text That's called a flight plan. It's just a declaration of intent, so that the ATCs know that you're expected. There are many valid reasons for deviating from the flight plan. For example, technical difficulties, bad weather, last minute diversions etc. That makes it very unreliable to predict the aircraft's location. You have to rely on your radar instead. The Military has some of the best radars around - especially on AEW&CS aircrafts and ships that stay close to conflict zones at all times. > 1. I understand that there may be reasons why military planes might want to fly undetected but given they know where the civilian planes are and where they are flying, it should be trivial for the military ships and planes to avoid those areas. Did you know that the Ronald Reagan Intl airport (DCA) saw one 'close call' between a civilian airliner and a military helicopter every month for the 13 year period from 2011 to 2024? [1]. That's close to 150 near disasters in total, for consecutive months for more than a decade! This is ridiculous! Clearly, it's not a question if they can stay clear to avoid an incident. It's a question of if anyone cares at all. [1] https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324543/ntsb-dca-mid-air-collision-american-black-hawk https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324543/ntsb-dca-mid-ai...
- ranger_danger 10mo ago
  The pilots have ipads and internet connections... can't they just have it check e.g. flightaware or similar tool for nearby aircraft and keep them alerted if something is getting too close?

basisword 10mo ago

I wonder what illegal activities/war crimes the USAF is up to in Venezuela this time?

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]