“Aggressive Maneuver” of emergency in the air: collision with a B-52 Bombardier of the American Army, avoided by a pilot of a commercial plane
A pilot of a regional race operated by Delta Air Lines was forced to execute a sudden maneuver to avoid a collision in the air with a US Air Force Bombardier, reports the press across the ocean. The incident was surprised in an audio recording subsequently published on Tiktok, in which the pilot apologizes for passengers for the sudden turn.
The incident took place aboard the Skywest 3788 flight, operated by Delta Connection, which carried out a race from Minneapolis (Minnesota) to Minot (Northern Dakota), Skywest said in a statement, quoted by CNN.
The aircraft landed safely at Minot, but was forced to initially interrupt the landing procedure after, while approaching to perform the maneuver, another aircraft appeared, visible only at the last moment.
Skywest has announced that he is investigating the incident. The control tower involved does not belong to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), so the institution does not yet have an official report, but stated that it is collecting information about what happened.
“He came directly to us”
In a registration broadcast on Tiktok, the pilot can be heard explaining that an aircraft “came, as if, directly to us” and that no one was informed about its presence.
@azamora616#Plane#NEARMISS#Flight3788 @Delta ♬ Original Sound – Andrea
“No one told us anything,” says the pilot, whose name is not mentioned.
He said he was trained by the tower to report the position to about 10 km from the airport. After contacting the traffic controllers, he was asked to turn right. But, seeing an aircraft in that direction, it was redirected to the left. The plane that appeared in the way seemed to be a military one, after the high flight speed.
“I don't know exactly how quickly they were going, but they were much more fast than us,” said the pilot. “It seemed to me that the safest thing was to turn behind them.”
The pilot apologized for maneuver
Finally, the pilot apologized for the “aggressive maneuver”, adding that “it was surprised.”
“In short, it was not pleasant at all. I apologize and thank you for understanding,” said the pilot, being applauded by passengers.
Both the Pentagon and the Delta Air Lines have directed CNN requests to Skywest for further details.
A passenger on board, Monica Green, told CNN that the plane was preparing to land when she felt a jerk, “as if we had a return to 180 degrees.” Then followed the message of the pilot who promised to give explanations after landing.
Green, who frequently travels in the interest of service, said he has never gone through such an experience.
“I enjoyed the transparency of the pilot. It reassured me that he said what happened and informed the passengers,” she said.
US Air Forces Investigate Incident
The involved bomber is a B-52 stratifortress, large military aircraft, capable of flying over long distances, at subsonic speeds, at altitudes of up to 15,000 meters. It can carry nuclear or conventional precision nuclear armament, benefiting from global navigation system.
The Minot Air Base hosts the 5th bombing squadron and the 91st missile squadron, as well as a large number of US Air Force equipment and vehicles, including 26 B-52 bombers, according to New York Post.
It is not clear how close the two planes approached or if an alarm was activated in the pilot cabin to warn pilots about a possible collision.
“We are up to date with the recent information on commercial aircraft and air forces operating in the air space around the International Airport Minot. At present, we are investigating this incident. We can confirm that a B-52 air base Minot has overcome the North Dakota State Fair on Friday evening,” A Air News said on Sunday evening.
Photo source: dreamstime.com
