The pilot of a Delta passenger flight was forced to make an "aggressive maneuver" to avoid a mid-air collision with an Air Force B-52 bomber. Photo / Getty Images
The pilot of a Delta passenger flight was forced to make an "aggressive maneuver" to avoid a mid-air collision with an Air Force B-52 bomber. Photo / Getty Images
A passenger jet landing in North Dakota performed a “go-around” to avoid colliding with an Air Force B-52, according to the commercial pilot’s comments posted to social media and the airline involved.
SkyWest Flight 3788, a Delta connection between Minneapolis and Minot, North Dakota, was cleared by the tower forlanding, Delta said.
SkyWest, which is also investigating the near-miss, said the pilot “performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path”.
Air Force officials said a hulking B-52 bomber was performing a flyover at the North Dakota State Fair, which took place in Minot, home to a commercial airport and an Air Force base.
The commercial pilot explained to his passengers that the B-52 appeared to be on a converging course, according to a video posted to Instagram and verified by Storyful. He apologised for making an “aggressive manoeuvre” to avoid a midair collision, adding that “nobody told us” about the other aircraft.
Flight tracking data reviewed by the Washington Post showed the plane on descent made a sharp right turn near the airport, then climbed as it circled to land. Flight tracking data showed the B-52 performing ellipses in the area around the same time.
“This is not normal at all,” the pilot said. “Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologise for it.” The passengers applauded once his announcement finished.
In a statement, the FAA said air traffic control services at Minot International Airport are provided by a private company and not FAA employees. Air traffic controllers who work for private companies have the same training and qualification requirements as FAA controllers, the agency said.
Monica Green, the passenger who recorded the pilot speaking, told the Post that the flight was mostly uneventful. She had never been to Minot and raised the blind to catch a glimpse of the pastoral landscape.
“Then the plane just takes a hard turn to where we’re going sideways, and I am looking at grass instead of looking at a horizon,” Green said. It was surreal and disorienting, she said, but there was a strange calmness in the cabin. The man next to her didn’t even look up.
The Air Force did not immediately respond to questions about the location and altitude of the B-52 during the near-miss and whether the base had coordinated its flyover with the airport.
“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,” the service said.
Pieces of American Airlines flight 5342 are recovered from the Potomac River after a mid-air collision with a military Black Hawk helicopter. Photo / Getty Images
An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a passenger jet in January near Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft. That disaster prompted lawmakers and federal agencies to review co-ordination between military and civilian aircraft operating in the same airspace.
That collision was on Green’s mind after she stepped off the plane in Minot. It was a dose of anxiety, she said, to be told a collision could have happened. Green, a music merchandise manager who was in Minot for the state fair, was already on her way back to Dallas on Monday morning.
“I travel a lot for work, and it just makes me so stressed out that I don’t have a choice in the matter,” she said, “like I have to fly or I have to find a new career.”
