The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday it is issuing a series of warnings to airlines to exercise caution when flying over Central America and parts of South America, citing the risks of possible military activity and GPS interference.
The FAA said it issued warnings to airmen covering Mexico and Central American countries, as well as Ecuador, Colombia and parts of airspace in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The warnings began this Friday and will last for 60 days, the agency added.
The warnings come amid heightened tensions between the United States and regional leaders after the Trump administration mounted a large-scale military force in the southern Caribbean and attacked Venezuela and arrested President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation. President Donald Trump raised the possibility of other military actions in the region, including against Colombia.
Last week, Trump said the cartels were running Mexico and suggested the U.S. could attack ground targets to combat them, in one of several threats to employ U.S. military force against drug cartels.
After the attack on Venezuela, the FAA restricted flights across the Caribbean, which forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights from major airlines. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters this week that there was good coordination between the agency and the U.S. military ahead of the Venezuela operation.
Last month, a JetBlue (JBLU.O) passenger jet bound for New York took evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force tanker near Venezuela.
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JetBlue Flight 1112 had departed from Curacao, in the Caribbean, and was flying about 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela when the Airbus (AIR.PA) plane reported encountering the Air Force jet, which did not have its transponder activated.
