Pilot praised for quick-thinking 'aggressive maneuver' preventing mid-air collision with B-52 bomber
A pilot has been applauded for his quick thinking that is believed to have prevented a commercial plane from colliding with a military jet.
On Friday (July 18), a Delta flight operated by SkyWest took off from Minneapolis, US, as planned and made its way to North Dakota.
Everything about the flight was completely normal until the aircraft approached its final destination.
As it got closer to Minot Airport, the pilot was told to turn right by air traffic control (ATC), but he told them there was something in their flight path.
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He was then urged to go left, but the pilot looked over and saw that the plane he'd spotted was 'kind of coming on a convergent course with us'.
It wasn't another commercial flight though. Apparently, the other aircraft was a military jet — a B-52 bomber, to be precise.
With this in mind, the pilot made the split decision to do a go-around and moved out of the other aircraft's way. One passenger on the plane said the aircraft was 'sideways' at one point.
The pilot went on to apologize to passengers for the 'aggressive manoeuvre'.
"It caught me by surprise," he said. "This is not normal at all."
The pilot continued: "Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it and thank you for understanding. Not a fun day at work."
Ultimately, Delta Flight 3788 landed safely at Minot Airport.
SkyWest say that it's investigating Friday evening's incident that could have easily ended in disaster.
In a statement to UNILAD, the airline company said: "SkyWest flight 3788, operating as Delta Connection from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Minot, North Dakota on July 18, 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."
See the video of the pilot talking to passengers here:
Passenger Monica Green has since opened up about what it was like to be on the flight at the time of the incident.
"I just remember the plane going, like, sideways and just looking straight out the window and just seeing grass, like you weren't seeing the skyline anymore," she recalled to NBC News.
Reportedly, ATC at the airport in question doesn't use radar technology so they weren't able to detect the B-52 bomber that way. They do everything by sight instead.
An Air Force Base nearby does have radar, however, and there have been questions raised about why the military didn't give ATC forewarning about the B-52 bomber being airborne.
It's believed that smaller airports like Minot not having a radar system isn't uncommon.
"There are many small airports across the country that have commercial service that don't have radar," aviation analyst Jeff Guzzetti told NBC.
"Instead, they'll have some sort of coordinating communication with another radar facility several miles away, perhaps with a military base."
Niamh Shackleton