A Delta regional flight was forced to make an “aggressive maneuver” to avoid a midair collision with a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber in North Dakota, according to its pilot.
The Delta jet, operated by SkyWest Airlines, was traveling between Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Minot International Airport on July 18 in what is a 90-minute trip. The near-miss is the latest mishap months after a military helicopter crashed into a passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67.
SkyWest told the Daily Beast that SkyWest flight 3788, operating as a Delta Connection from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Minot, North Dakota, had been cleared to approach the airport when it performed “a go-around” after “another aircraft became visible in their flight path.”
The flight landed safely and Sky West in “investigating the incident.”
Details of the near-miss were captured after the pilot explained the incident to passengers upon landing. A recording of the pilot posted by a passenger on Instagram was later verified by NBC News. Passenger Monica Green told NBC she felt “so sick to my stomach that that was so close to happening.”
The pilot said he was not informed of the B-52 bomber in his path after it appeared to leave a the nearby Air Force Base.
“For those of you on the right hand side, you probably saw the airplane kind of sort of coming at us. Nobody told us about it, so we continued and there’s no radar here, so the tower does everything visually,” the pilot explains.
“So they sent us about six miles from the airport, so we did that, I think he realized that the spacing wasn’t going to work, and I looked over and there was an airplane that was supposed to be on the right hand side.”
The pilot said he thought the bomber was actually was a “small airplane” before he received conflicting commands from air traffic controllers as he attempted to avoid a collision.
“We looked over and saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a convergent course with us. The pilot said that ”given his speed, it was a military aircraft," and decided that “it was the safest thing to do to turn behind it.”
“So sorry for the aggressive maneuver, it caught me by surprise, and it’s not normal at all. I don’t know why they didn’t give us a heads-up. Because the airport base does have radar, and nobody said, ‘Hey, there’s also a B-52 in the pattern.’”
The pilot concluded, “Long story short, it wasn’t fun, and I do apologize for it, and I thank you for your understanding. Not a fun day at work.”
It’s unclear just how close the two aircraft came to each other.
The Daily Beast contacted Delta, who referred the case to SkyWest. The FAA has also been approached for comment.
The incident is the latest in a series of aviation mishaps and near-misses.
In January, 67 people were killed when an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet collided over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
