Colombian airline halts some flights after brush with Venezuelan jet

Avianca said Saturday that it had grounded all flights to Caracas, Venezuela, after a Venezuelan Air Force jet intercepted one of its planes. The airline said it was also rerouting several flights to avoid Venezuelan airspace until further notice. “We’re waiting for them to guarantee the security conditions required to operate,” said an Avianca spokeswoman. An Avianca Boeing 787 that had left Madrid for Bogotá, Colombia was flying at a high altitude Friday near Venezuela’s western border with Colombia when another aircraft was spotted on radar a short distance away. The airline pilot notified the Colombian aviation authorities and sharply diverted from the scheduled flight path. Four minutes later, the military aircraft veered away, and the passenger plane resumed its course, Colombia’s Defence Ministry said. <br/>