Delta flight swerves to evade speeding B-52 bomber in shocking near miss
The Delta regional jet was nearing Minot International Airport after a 90-minute flight from Minneapolis–Saint Paul when passengers and crew were startled as the pilot suddenly began making a series of sharp, unexpected turns, according to KMOT News.
Unbeknownst to the passengers at the time, the plane had come terrifyingly close to crashing into a massive military jet - B-52 Stratofortress - flying out of Minot Air Force Base.
'Being in the very front row, you feel everything, and those hard turns, you could tell something wasn't right,' Monica Green, a passenger on the flight, told the outlet.
The pilot's quick thinking aboard Delta Flight DL3788 - an Embraer E175 operated by SkyWest - may have saved hundreds of lives, despite unsettling passengers, after the plane came dangerously close to the military bomber.
As the pilot sharply swerved through the air to avoid disaster, passengers described the atmosphere onboard as 'weirdly calm,' despite the sudden and evasive maneuvers.
'We took a really hard turn, and that's when the pilot got on the intercom and said, '"sorry everybody, I'll explain everything when we land safely,"' Green told KMOT.
'The way he said it, it almost sounded like he was insinuating that landing safely might not be an option for a moment,' she added.
'We all just kind of looked at each other and stayed quiet.'
The flight circled Minot Airport several times before finally landing, with passengers sensing the rising tension among the crew. Some, including Green, quietly began texting loved ones - internally panicking as the gravity of the situation set in.
'He was very casual,' Green explained, describing the pilot's demeanor. 'If you can be casual about something like that.'
'But you could tell he was stressed,' she added. 'He was almost shaking, trying to find the right words, but he was nice and detailed. It felt good that they weren't just going to brush it off.'
Once the plane landed safely, the pilot addressed passengers over the public address system, explaining that air traffic control had instructed an abrupt course change due to inadequate separation from another aircraft on the approach path.
He told passengers he had received no prior warning about nearby military air traffic - something he noted was highly unusual, given Minot Air Force Base's radar capabilities.
Acting fast, he decided the safest move was to swerve the plane behind the bomber - hence the abrupt movements, according to video obtained by ABC News.
'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 once on the ground.
'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,' he added.
'Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it, and thank you for understanding. Not a fun day at work.'
Exactly how close the two aircraft came remains unknown, as does whether any cockpit warning systems were triggered during the near miss, according to ABC.
Although Green couldn't see the bomber from her seat, she later overheard tense conversations in the small airport terminal - passengers and crew quietly discussing just how close the collision had actually been.
'When we landed, it was really quiet. No one stood up right away like people normally do,' she told KMOT.
'At the airport, I heard some people saying their friends saw it from the ground. The other plane nearly hit us, and it went so low it passed under us.'
SkyWest has since launched an investigation into the incident, a spokesperson told ABC in a statement.
'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,' the statement read. 'We are investigating the incident.'
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