Delta regional jet pilot apologizes to passengers for ‘aggressive maneuver’ to avoid a B-52 bomber
A Delta Connection regional jet made a sudden evasive maneuver while landing in Minot, North Dakota, on July 18, after the pilot spotted a B-52 bomber unexpectedly in his flight path. The Air Force says the bomber was performing a flyover at the state fair, and the FAA is now investigating the near miss.
(CNN) — A pilot flying a Delta Air Lines regional jet on Friday apologized to his passengers after making a hard turn to avoid colliding with a US Air Force B-52 bomber, audio from the incident shows.
The incident occurred on SkyWest Flight 3788, which was operating as a Delta Connection flight, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Minot, North Dakota, SkyWest said in a statement.
The flight 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 read.
The close call is under investigation by SkyWest Airlines.
The Air Force is currently looking into the matter, a spokesperson told CNN.
“We can confirm that a B-52 aircraft assigned to Minot AFB conducted a flyover of the North Dakota State Fair Friday evening,” they said.
The flyover was advertised for 7:40 p.m., which was roughly the same time the SkyWest plane was landing.
The air traffic control tower was operated by a contractor, not directly by the Federal Aviation Administration, but the agency is now investigating what happened, according to a statement sent to CNN Monday morning. The contractor, Midwest ATC, declined comment and referred CNN to the FAA.
In the audio of a video posted on TikTok, the pilot can be heard explaining what happened, and that the aircraft was “kind of, sort of coming at us.”
“Nobody told us about it,” the unidentified pilot is heard saying.
He added the tower asked him to report six miles from the airport.
After being in communication with the tower, he said he turned right, but saw the aircraft on the right-hand side, so the air traffic controller told him to turn left.
He said the speed of the airplane indicated it was a military aircraft.
“I don’t know how fast they were going, but they were a lot faster than us,” he said. “I thought that was the safest thing to do was turn behind it.”
At the end, the pilot apologized for the “aggressive maneuver.” “It caught me by surprise,” the pilot said.
“Long story short, it was not fun, I do apologize for it and thank you for understanding,” he added before being met with applause.
Delta Air Lines referred CNN to SkyWest Airlines when asked for details about the incident.
Delta signage at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Minneapolis. (Photo Credit: Aaron M. Sprecher/AP via CNN Newsource)
Passenger Monica Green said the flight was getting ready to land when she felt the plane jerk “like we did a U-turn,” she told CNN.
That’s when she heard the pilot come over the intercom and apologize. He said he’d explain everything once he landed the plane safely.
Green, who travels a lot for work, said she had never experienced anything like what she did that day.
“I’m just happy with transparency from the pilot. It made me feel better that the pilot said something about it and made the consumers aware,” she said.
The B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber capable of performing a variety of missions, according to the Air Force. It is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet and can carry “nuclear or precision guided conventional ordnance with worldwide precision navigation capability.”
The B-52 bomber is massive, with eight jet engines and a wingspan of about 185 feet. It can take off weighing about 488,000 pounds. The 70 seat Embraer 175 regional jet is about half as wide and can take off with less than one-fifth the weight - about 85,000 pounds.
CNN’s Alexandra Skores contributed to this report.
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