Delta pilot makes ‘aggressive manoeuvre’ to avoid midair collision with fighter jet
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Delta pilot makes ‘aggressive manoeuvre’ to avoid midair collision with military aircraft
Delta Air Lines regional jet SkyWest Flight 3788 was en route from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Minot, North Dakota on Friday. The pilot, who identified the aircraft as a B-52 bomber, is heard in video recordings saying it was “kind of, sort of coming at us” The aircraft landed safely “after being cleared for approach” but “performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path”, the airline said.
“We took a really hard right turn, we were completely sideways,” Monica Green, a woman on the flight who recorded the audio told the BBC. “I was facing the grass.”
Delta Air Lines regional jet SkyWest Flight 3788 was en route from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Minot, North Dakota on Friday, the airline said.
The pilot, who identified the aircraft as a B-52 bomber, is heard in video recordings shared on social media saying it was “kind of, sort of coming at us”. “So, sorry about the aggressive manoeuvre,” he says.
A Delta airlines pilot was forced to make an “aggressive” evasive manoeuvre to avoid a potential mid-air collision with a US military aircraft before landing in North Dakota.
“We had no idea what was going on, we didn’t know if there was anything wrong with the plane or if the sharp turns would continue,” Ms Green said.
As soon as the plane became level again, the passengers went quiet, she said.
The aircraft landed safely “after being cleared for approach” but “performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path”, the SkyWest airlines said in a statement.
After the plane landed, the pilot came out from the cockpit and explained to the passengers that the tower instructed him to turn right but that when he looked over, he saw a B-52 bomber.
At that point he was instructed to turn left but said he looked over and “saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a converging course with us”.
The pilot told the passengers that the other aircraft was moving faster than the SkyWest plane, so he made the decision to turn behind it.
“It caught me by surprise,” he said. “This is not normal at all. I don’t know why they didn’t give us a heads up.”
He concluded his message with an apology: “Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it – and thank you for understanding.” Passengers responded with applause, the video shows.
SkyWest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
Delta regional jet experiences near-miss with military plane over North Dakota
Delta Flight 3788 landed safely in Minot, North Dakota, after taking off from Minneapolis. Air traffic control tower had cleared the plane to approach the airport. Pilot identified the second plane as a B-52 bomber. U.S. Air Force says it is “looking into” reports of a military aircraft operating in the same airspace as a commercial airplane.”So, sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise,” the pilot says in the video.
MINOT, N.D. — A SkyWest flight had to perform a go-around maneuver after it nearly collided with a second aircraft Friday before landing in North Dakota.
The air traffic control tower had cleared the plane to approach the airport, but the pilot “performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path,” SkyWest said in a statement.
The SkyWest pilot identified the second plane as a B-52 bomber. The U.S. Air Force said Sunday evening that it was “looking into” reports of a military aircraft operating in the same airspace as a commercial airplane. It confirmed that a B-52 assigned to Minot Air Force Base had conducted a flyover of the North Dakota State Fair on Friday evening.
Delta Flight 3788, operated by SkyWest, landed safely in Minot, North Dakota, after taking off from Minneapolis, the airline said.
SkyWest said it is investigating the incident.
The near-collision Friday comes just six months after a military helicopter hit a passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, killing 67 people.
In video posted to social media and verified by NBC News, the plane’s pilot explains to passengers what happened in the air and apologizes for what he called an “aggressive maneuver.”
The pilot says that the ATC tower instructed him to turn right but that when he looked over, he saw a B-52 bomber. He says that he was then instructed to turn left but that at that point, he looked over and “saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a converging course with us.”
The second aircraft was moving faster than the SkyWest plane, the pilot says, so he made the decision to turn behind it.
“So, sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise,” the pilot says in the video. “This is not normal at all. I don’t know why they didn’t give us a heads up.”
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628yn40z2zo