The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued warnings to airlines to exercise caution when flying over Central America and parts of South America, citing the risks of potential military activities and GPS interference.
The FAA reportedly issued Notices to Airmen covering Mexico and other Central American countries, as well as Ecuador, Colombia and portions of airspace within the eastern Pacific Ocean. The warnings began on Friday and will last 60 days, Reuters reported, citing the agency.
The warning came at a time when tensions had been high between the United States and regional leaders after the Trump administration mounted a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean. The US also attacked Venezuela and seized the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation.
Last week, Trump said that cartels were running Mexico and suggested the US could strike land targets to combat them, in one of a series of threats to deploy US military force against drug cartels.
Following the attack on Venezuela, the FAA had curbed flights throughout the Caribbean, which forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights by major airlines.
Last month, a JetBlue (JBLU.O) passenger jet bound for New York took evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision with a US Air Force tanker plane near Venezuela, the report said. JetBlue Flight 1112 had departed the Caribbean nation of Curacao and was flying about 40 miles (64 km) off the coast of Venezuela.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a flight with 231 Venezuelan migrants deported from the US city of Phoenix arrived home on Friday. The transfer came days after Maduro was captured.
The transfer was repeatedly disrupted as tensions escalated after US military forces launched a series of lethal operations targeting boats suspected of drug smuggling in international waters across the Caribbean and Pacific.
(With inputs from Reuters)