Not a fun day at work: Delta pilot’s ‘aggressive maneuver’ evades collision with B-52 bomber

A Delta regional jet flying from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota, had a terrifying moment in the sky on July 18 when the pilot had to make a sudden and sharp turn to avoid a possible crash with a US Air Force B-52 bomber.

The flight, operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection Flight 3788, was heading to its destination when the military jet suddenly appeared on a converging path. The pilot of the commercial Embraer 175 aircraft immediately took action to avoid the bomber.

Once safely on the ground in Minot, the pilot explained what happened to passengers.

“Given his speed … I don’t know how fast they were going, but they were a lot faster than us, I felt it was the safest thing to do to turn behind it,” the pilot said, according to an audio recording of the cabin announcement. “So sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise, this is not normal at all. 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 apologise for it and thank you for understanding. Not a not a fun day at work.”

PASSENGERS SHAKEN BUT SAFE

The regional jet managed to land safely after circling around to try the landing again. It’s not known how close the two aircraft came or whether the cockpit systems gave any warning before the pilot took manual control to steer away from danger.

Minot is home to a US Air Force base, which operates B-52 bombers. However, the Air Force has not yet released any details about the near-collision.

SkyWest Airlines confirmed the incident and said it is under investigation.

“SkyWest flight 3788, operating as Delta Connection from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Minot, North Dakota, 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. We are investigating the incident,” a SkyWest spokesperson told ABC News.

The pilot’s comments suggest that the Delta crew was not informed in advance that a military aircraft might be nearby, even though Minot Air Force Base uses radar systems that should detect nearby flights. Passengers were terrified by the sudden motion of the plane.

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