More from the article ...

... "We almost had a midair collision up here," the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. "They passed directly in our flight path. ... They don't have their transponder turned on, it's outrageous."

The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City's JFK airport. It comes as the U.S. military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on Venezuela's government.

"We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us -- maybe 2 or 3 miles -- but it was an air-to air-refueler from the United States Air Force and he was at our altitude," the pilot said. "We had to stop our climb."

The pilot said the Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan air space.

Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said Sunday: "We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation." He added, "Our crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team." ...

@#2 ... President Plane Crash's incompetence has global reach. ...

In some respects, yes.

For example ...

Why is a US Military aircraft operating in international commercial airspace with its transponders disabled?

I have other questions, but I'll start there.

@#4 ... Why not keep climbing? ...

Good question.

Possibly because to continue climbing would bring the JetBlue plane even closer to the USAF plane?

Asked differently, was the JetBlue pilot looking to the current altitude, i.e., the altitude to which they were assigned to go?

"Our altitude" indicates to me that the JetBlue flight was cleared for a flight into a certain airspace, i.e., the pilot thought they owned it. And suddenly, that airspace is populated by some random aircraft.