A Dominican Republic-bound JetBlue flight made a U-turn and headed back to Kennedy Airport after the pilot discovered a scamming TSA screener had sneaked aboard, The Post has learned.

The bizarre incident last Saturday inconvenienced 150 legit passengers and wasted tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of fuel.

Carlos Rodriguez, 30, got an employee pass from a pal who works for JetBlue, but he was told at the gate that the flight was sold out, sources said.

Insisting that he was authorized to use a jump seat in the cabin, he caught the pilot’s attention 45 minutes into the flight.

Rodriguez was barred from the airport pending results of the probe.