FAA investigates JetBlue midair scare near Fort Lauderdale

A JetBlue flight approaching Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport landed safely Monday evening after its pilot reported that a smaller aircraft was flying erratically nearby, prompting an air traffic controller to call the other pilot “insane” over the radio.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating the incident, which occurred around 6:15 p.m. local time as JetBlue Flight 1256 approached the airport. NBC News reported that the flight had originated in Ecuador.

According to air traffic control audio obtained by LiveATC.net, the tower was giving landing instructions to the JetBlue pilot when the pilot reported that the other aircraft was “turning towards us.” The two aircraft appeared to be separated by about a mile and only a few hundred feet in altitude at the time, according to the audio cited by CBS News.

Moments later, after the JetBlue pilot navigated away from the other aircraft, an air traffic controller referred to the smaller plane’s pilot as “Mad Max,” an apparent reference to the action movie franchise.

“That guy’s insane,” the controller said, according to the audio.

The FAA said the JetBlue plane received an onboard alert warning about a nearby aircraft that was “not in communications with air traffic control.” The agency said the required separation between the two aircraft was maintained, and JetBlue Flight 1256 landed safely shortly afterward.

The air traffic controller also warned another JetBlue pilot about the smaller aircraft, saying that its pilot had “been trying to climb at aircraft,” CBS News reported. That JetBlue flight also landed safely, according to the airport.

The FAA said the pilot of the smaller aircraft was not communicating with air traffic control. It was not immediately clear where that plane took off from or why it was flying in the area in that manner. JetBlue did not immediately comment when contacted by NBC News on Wednesday, and CBS News said it had also reached out to the airline.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is in Broward County, Florida. The airport’s website ranks it as the 18th-busiest airport in the United States, while NBC News described it as Florida’s third-busiest airport. North Perry Airport, another Broward County airport, is home to dozens of small planes and private aircraft, according to CBS News.

The incident comes as federal officials continue to examine several recent aviation close calls. CBS News reported that on April 29, a United Airlines flight reported a possible drone strike as it landed at San Diego International Airport. On April 20, two Southwest Airlines flights near Nashville International Airport nearly collided after an aborted landing brought one aircraft into the path of a departing jet; preliminary flight data showed the planes were separated by about 500 feet in altitude. The FAA is also investigating an April 9 incident in which a Frontier Airlines plane nearly collided with two trucks on a taxiway at Los Angeles International Airport.

NBC News reported that the Fort Lauderdale scare comes amid heightened concerns about aviation safety as the industry faces a yearslong shortage of air traffic controllers, and after a January 2025 midair collision in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.