WASHINGTON, Dec 16 — The pilot of a JetBlue flight said his aircraft came close to colliding with a US Air Force refuelling plane near Venezuela last week, with the airline saying yesterday it had reported the incident to American authorities.

The United States has amassed a huge flotilla of warships in the Caribbean and has repeatedly flown military aircraft along Venezuela’s coast as Washington seeks to pressure leftist leader Nicolas Maduro to leave power.

“We almost had a mid-air collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot told air traffic control in Curacao — an island off the coast of Venezuela that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands — on Friday, according to a recording uploaded to the LiveATC.net website.

“They don’t have their transponder turned on. It’s outrageous,” the JetBlue pilot said of the Air Force plane, noting that the refueler was “heading off into Venezuelan air space.”

US Southern Command, which is responsible for American forces in the area, said it was “currently reviewing the matter.”

“Safety remains a top priority, and we are working through the appropriate channels to assess the facts surrounding the situation,” the command said in a statement.

JetBlue meanwhile praised its flight crew “for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team,” adding in a statement: “We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.”

Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a “narco-terrorist” organisation last month, and has offered a US$50 million (RM204 million) reward for information leading to his capture.

US forces have also carried out a series of strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific — a months-long campaign that has left nearly 90 people dead and sent regional tensions soaring.

The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning last month to civilian aircraft in Venezuelan airspace, urging them to “exercise caution” 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,” the FAA said. — AFP