The pilot of a regional airline flying over Northern Dakota made an unexpected turn on Friday and then apologized to the passengers, explaining that he had acted in this way after spotting a military plane on his trajectory. Washington and the Skywest carrier have announced to investigate events.
The incident, which took place while the Delta flight 3788 approached Minot International Airport to land, is detailed in a video filmed by a passenger and published on social networks.
We hear the Skywest driver explain in the intercom that he made this tight turn on the left after spotting a B-52 bomber on his trajectory.
“Sorry for this aggressive maneuver. I was caught by surprise, ”it can be heard the pilot say in the video. “It is absolutely not normal. I do not understand why they did not warn us. »»
According to Skywest, a regional carrier for Delta and other large airlines, the flight had taken off from Minneapolis-Saint-Paul international airport and landing safely in Minot after having a gas delivery when another plane became visible on its trajectory.
Minot is 160 kilometers north of Bismarck, the capital of Northern Dakota, and about 80 kilometers from the Canadian border.
The Federal Aviation Agency (Federal Aviation Administration, FAA) said in a statement that it was investigating the incident. Skywest also said they conduct an investigation.
Contradictory information
In the video, the pilot underlines that the little Minot airport does not use radar and directs the flights to sight.
When the airport control tower ordered the Skywest flight to make a right -wing turn, the pilot said he looked in this direction and saw the bomber on his trajectory. He informed the tower and turned to the left, he said.
“I don’t know how much they went, but they were much faster than us,” said the pilot about the bomber.
This Northern Dakota incident occurs almost six months after a collision in flight between an army helicopter and an airliner over Washington DC, which has cost the 67 people on board the two devices.
Minot’s military air base is approximately 16 kilometers north of Minot, the fourth city of North Dakota. It houses 26 B-52 bombers, intercontinental ballistic missile operations and more than 5,400 soldiers.
An Air Force spokesperson confirmed on Monday that a B-52 bomber assigned to the base had flown over the Dakota Fair on the North on Friday and that the Air Force “examined” the report of a bomber and an airliner operating in the same air space around Minot airport.
The frustration of the pilot is obvious in the video.
“The air base has a radar and no one said,” Hey, there is a B-52 in the trajectory! ” “Said the pilot to passengers.