Passenger plane avoids midair collision with B-52 military jet over North Dakota: 'Aggressive maneuver'
(NewsNation) — The pilot of a Delta regional flight heading for Minot, North Dakota, avoided a midair collision with a B-52 bomber Friday by performing an "aggressive maneuver," he said.
The plane, operated by SkyWest, departed from Minneapolis and did not have the military jet on its radar, according to the pilot.
"Nobody told us about it," the pilot told passengers, recorded on audio by a woman on the plane.
"So sorry about the aggressive maneuver, it caught me by surprise. This is not, not normal at all," the pilot can be heard saying. "I don't know why they didn't give us a heads-up because the Air Force base does have radar. … Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it and thank you for understanding."
Both the FAA and the Air Force are looking into the Friday night incident, officials confirmed to NewsNation.
"We are aware of the recent reporting regarding commercial and Air Force aircraft operating in airspace around Minot International Airport. We are currently looking into the matter," an Air Force spokesperson said. "We can confirm that a B-52 aircraft assigned to Minot AFB conducted a flyover of the North Dakota State Fair Friday evening."
Minot Air Force Base is about 13 miles north of the Minot International Airport. The commercial pilot received a report from the air traffic control tower about an aircraft coming toward them, he said. He was instructed to turn right, but he didn't.
"He said, 'Turn right.' I said, 'There's an airplane over there,'" the pilot said. "He says, 'Turn left,' and then by the time we (were) back to clearance, we looked over and saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a converging course with us."
He turned behind it instead.
"They were a lot faster than us, and I felt that was the safest thing to do, turn behind it," the pilot said.
Passengers began clapping after the pilot finished his announcement.
Monica Green, who recorded the audio, told a local news outlet that passengers were “weirdly calm,” despite the tense situation.
“I felt like I was gaslighting myself, like maybe I was being crazy because no one else was reacting,” Green told KFYR. “ The pilot got on the intercom and said, ‘Sorry everybody, I’ll explain everything when we land safely.’ The way he said it, it almost sounded like he was insinuating that landing safely might not be an option for a moment. We all just kind of looked at each other and stayed quiet.”
A representative for SkyWest, in a statement shared with NewsNation, said the carrier had launched its own investigation into the incident.
"SkyWest flight 3788, operating as Delta Connection from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Minot, North Dakota on July 18, landed safely in Minot after being cleared for approach by the tower but performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path," the statement reads. "We are investigating the incident."