FAA warns all pilots of risks of flying over Venezuela over 'worsening security situation'

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday warned all pilots to “exercise caution” when flying in the airspace over Venezuela “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity ” around the country.

The message said the unspecified threats “could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes” as well planes taking off and landing in the country and even aircraft on the ground.

The warning comes as the Trump administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. military has conducted bomber flights up to the coast of Venezuela, sometimes as part of a training exercise to simulate an attack, and sent the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford into the region.

The Ford aircraft carrier and several destroyers were just the latest addition to the largest U.S. force assembled in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela in generations. The Trump administration does not see Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., as the legitimate leader of the South American country.

The Trump administration also has carried out a series of strikes on small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that it accuses of ferrying drugs to the U.S., killing over 80 people in total since the campaign began in early September.

Mary Schiavo, who is a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation, said the FAA puts out this kind of notice anytime there is a military conflict but that she hopes pilots will pay attention.

“I wouldn’t take it as necessarily there’s any kind of attack is imminent because I’ve seen these issued many times before. But as a pilot myself, I’d certainly heed it,” Schiavo said.

Schiavo said the United States may be anticipating military action by Venezuela or it could be planning additional action against drug boats. She said it’s hard to read into this notice and know what is behind it.

The Pentagon, when asked about the new warning, directed questions to the FAA, which simply confirmed the warning was issued and that it would last for 90 days.