Avianca airlines announced today the cancellation of all flights to and from Venezuela, after a Venezuelan military plane harassed one of their planes.

(EFE).- Colombia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday was asked to demand an explanation from Venezuela for an incident in which a military plane allegedly harassed an Avianca passenger jet while it was in the neighboring country’s airspace.

Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas discussed the incident with Venezuelan counterpart Vladimir Padrino and later requested that Colombia’s Foreign Ministry request a formal explanation.

The incident occurred Friday when an Avianca Boeing 787, which was flying from Madrid to Bogota with 248 passengers on board, was allegedly harassed by a Venezuelan military plane, nearly resulting in a mid-air collision.

The crew of the Colombian airliner contacted Bogota to report the proximity of another aircraft, which was following it so close that the Traffic Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS, was activated in the Avianca aircraft.

The minister said the incident occurred at 7:10 p.m. when the Surveillance and Early Alert System of the Colombian air force detected Avianca flight 011 in Venezuelan airspace.

“At the same time, the system detected another aircraft in a similar flight position a short distance from the commercial airliner,” the report said.

Meanwhile the Avianca crew called the Bogota Control Center to report an aircraft flying dangerously close, according to the Defense Ministry.

“Later, at 7:14 p.m., the aircraft flying near the Avianca airliner turned north and was gone. The passenger jet continued according to its flight plan, entering Colombian territory at 7:19 p.m. and landing at El Dorado Airport at 8:05 p.m.,” the ministry said.

Finally, as a consequence of the constant calls by the Colombian air force Command and Control Center, at 9:30 p.m. it obtained an answer from Venezuela’s Integral Aerospace Defense Command (Codai) saying that the Venezuelan military plane was on a navigation mission, the report said. EFE