FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-collision that happened on Monday between a JetBlue flight preparing to land at a South Florida airport and a smaller plane that was flying erratically.
The incident occurred around 6:15 p.m. ET, the FAA confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday.
JetBlue Flight 1256 was approaching Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to complete a flight that originated in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the Sun Sentinel reported. However, the passenger plane had to alter its path to avoid a collision with a Beechcraft 76 plane that was registered to Sun City Aviation LLC, according to CNN, which cited FAA records.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call between a JetBlue flight heading towards the Fort Lauderdale airport and another plane, officials confirmed. https://t.co/roIO3iw6uK
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) June 2, 2026
The air traffic controller first warned the pilot about Visual Flight Rules (VFR) traffic -- where planes navigate by sight instead of using instruments -- approximately 6 nautical miles away from the runway, the Sun Sentinel reported, citing archived radio transmissions from LiveATC.net.
“Yeah, they’re turning toward us,” one pilot in the JetBlue aircraft can be heard saying on the recording, according to CNN.
“We have a TCAS alert, we’re moving,” the pilot said, the Sun Sentinel reported. According to the newspaper, a TCAS alert, which refers to the aircraft’s Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, is a cockpit alert that helps the pilot avoid midair collisions by monitoring the space around an aircraft.
“That guy’s insane,” the air traffic controller said after the pilot avoided a potential collision with the Beechcraft 76, according to the newspaper. The air traffic controller dubbed the pilot of the smaller plane “Mad Max.”
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The two aircraft came within 500 feet vertically of one another and approximately 1.6 miles horizontally, CNN reported, citing data from FlightRadar24.
The FAA said the pilot of the smaller plane was not communicating with air traffic controllers, according to CBS News.
It was unclear where the smaller aircraft had taken off from. The FAA said it was investigating the incident, the news outlet reported.
Spokespersons for JetBlue and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, the Sun Sentinel reported.
According to its website, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is ranked as the nation’s 18th-busiest airport and served more than 32.2 million passengers during 2025.
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