Image: USAF Tanker DoD.mil
What’s new: A near-miss between a Jet Blue airliner leaving Curacao and a USAF tanker. The tanker was not broadcasting its location through ADS-B nor, apparently, notifying air traffic control it was in the area.
Why it’s important:
- People could die.
- When you stop using safety procedures, especially those that have been around for a long time and everyone is accustomed to, things get… LESS SAFE!
What else to know:
- The FAA published a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) about the airspace around Venezuela, which includes Curacao, on the 21st of November. The notice and its supplementary information make no mention of US military aircraft not using ADS-B or not contacting air traffic control when they are in the area.
- Emissions Control (EMCON) can be important during military operations when aircraft are threatened with attack from other aircraft or the ground. We have not seen evidence US military aircraft in the area are under such threat.
visual investigations
U.S. Military Plane and JetBlue Flight Nearly Collided Over Caribbean, Radio Traffic Shows
The Air Force refueling tanker was flying without its location transponder activated and could not be detected by air traffic control.
The pilot of a JetBlue flight reported on Friday that he narrowly avoided colliding with a U.S. military aircraft over the Caribbean after an Air Force refueling tanker passed in front of the commercial plane without broadcasting its position, according to air traffic control radio communications.
“They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous,” the JetBlue pilot told an air traffic controller, after identifying the type of plane he had encountered. “We almost had a midair collision up here.”
