SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
US authorities probing airliner's close call with B-52 bomber
Washington, July 21 (AFP) Jul 21, 2025
US aviation regulators said Monday they are investigating a recent close call in which a passenger plane took emergency action to avoid a mid-air collision with a US military bomber.

A Delta flight operated by SkyWest took off Friday from Minneapolis and was approaching the city of Minot, North Dakota when the pilot rapidly rerouted after seeing another aircraft nearing from the right.

"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 told passengers, according to recorded audio of the commercial pilot

"Sorry about the aggressive maneuver," he said. "This is not normal at all."

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that US officials are "investigating the event involving SkyWest Airlines Flight 3788 at Minot International Airport on Friday, July 18.

SkyWest said it has also begun a probe. The flight was cleared for approach by the tower "but performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path," the carrier said in a statement reported by US media.

The US Air Force did not provide specifics about the near miss but confirmed in a statement reported by the Washington Post that a B-52 bomber was performing a flyover at the North Dakota State Fair, which took place in Minot.

The northern city, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Canada border, is home to a commercial airport and a US Air Force base.

In the video, posted to Instagram and verified by Storyful, the SkyWest pilot told passengers that "nobody told us" about the other plane.

He said the Minot tower, which does not use radar -- a common situation in smaller, more remote airfields in the United States -- offered guidance that could have put the passenger jet in jeopardy.

"He said 'Turn right.' I said there's an airplane over there. And he says 'Turn left,'" the pilot said.

The passenger who recorded the video, Monica Green, said she was "sick to my stomach" about the near miss.

Green, quoted by NBC News, said she felt the jet take a hard turn and then "I just remember the plane going, like, sideways... and just looking straight out the window and just seeing grass" with no visible skyline.

The incident comes less than six months after a US Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet approaching Washington's Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.

The disaster prompted federal authorities and Congress to review coordination between military and civilian aircraft flying in the same airspace.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Robotic welding project to prepare UK for in orbit repairs
OroraTech expands GENA satellite platform with orbital testbed for scientific payloads
ONE Bow River backs Odyssey Space Research growth in flight software and mission engineering

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Thorium plated steel points to smaller nuclear clocks
Solar ghost particles seen flipping carbon atoms in underground detector
Overview Energy debuts airborne power beaming milestone for space based solar power

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.