North Dakota: an airliner avoids a collision with a B-52

A Delta airliner operated by the airline Skywest narrowly avoided a collision with an American fighting aircraft, a B-52, thanks to an “aggressive maneuver”, according to videos filmed by passengers and published on social networks.

The plane, coming from Minneapolis, in Minnesota, was preparing to land Friday in Minot, in the North Dakota, when the pilot suddenly changed direction, causing the stupor of the passengers.

“Tur right,” said the control tower. ” I said “there is an airplane” and the tower said to me “turn left”, you hear the pilot in a video taken by a passenger, published on Instagram. “Given his speed, it was a military plane, I don’t know how much he was going, but he was much faster than us. I thought the safest thing was to make a detour. I’m sorry for this aggressive maneuver, “continued the pilot.

The Flight Radar flight tracking website shows the trajectory of the plane, which makes a large loop before landing.

The Air Force said to the “Washington Post” that a B-52 bomber made a flight over Minot that day, where a civil airport and a military base are located.

“Skywest flight 3788, ensuring the connection between Minneapolis and Minot on July 18, posed without incident in Minot after obtaining the authorization of the control tower, but carried out a detour when another plane became visible in its flight trajectory. We are investigating this incident, ”said the airline in a statement, quoted by American media.

According to the pilot heard in the video, this airport does not have radar and the control tower works visually.

In January, a collision in full flight took place above Washington between a commercial plane and a military helicopter, killing 67 people.