Posted on 07/20/2025 2:56:00 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
A Delta regional jet on approach to Minot, North Dakota, made an "aggressive maneuver" to avoid a mid-air collision with a B-52 bomber, according to the Delta pilot.
The incident took place on July 18, according to the airline. The flight, operated by SkyWest, had departed from Minneapolis. Once on the ground, the pilot apologized to passengers for the abrupt move and explained the situation.
"Given his speed ... I don't know how fast they were going, but they were a lot faster than us, I felt it was the safest thing to do to turn behind it," the pilot said, according to a recording of the conversation. "So sorry about the aggressive maneuver, it caught me by surprise, this is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads up, because the Air Force base does have radar ... long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it and thank you for understanding. Not a not a fun day at work."
It's unclear how close the two jets came from each other or if a cockpit alarm was activated to warn the pilots of a potential collision. Minot is home to an Air Force base with B-52 bombers.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
The Air Force base is 13 miles from the commercial airport.
“Sorry folks, I was channeling my inner Bob Hoover.”
Don't lie. You guys all flew fighter jets in the military. You miss doing this stuff.
Dunno about that. It’s like being a former World Rally Car, F1 or LeMans driver and being at the wheel of an old Econoline van. When you need it to react fast and do something quickly, the big lumbering box doesn’t want to do it quickly if at all - the terror of telling your vehicle to do something NOW to save your life only for it to slowly, slowly respond is *not* good, no matter what high performance vehicle you used to drive.
That phenomenon is why after WW2, the airlines instituted retraining programs for fighter pilots hired to fly airliners as there were a number of close calls and crashes where the pilot assumed they had the same margin of maneuvering safety as their old fighter did... and the airliner *didn’t*.
The Chinese snuck on the base and made off with a B-52, payment for some Biden payoff. Not sure.
They didn’t understand the protocol. Glad no one was hurt.
I hope the pilot doesn’t try to join the 410 Club like the morons of Pinnacle Airlines 3701 in 2004.
Minot why not
Give the BUFF a wide berth.
Maritime rules.
Doing inventory on his survival kit.
The radar was Jammed!
>Don’t lie. You guys all flew fighter jets in the military. You miss doing this stuff.<
That was closer to being true a generation ago. Fighter pilots stay in the AF for the long haul. Most I have flown with were transport, cargo, or refueling. Only one B1 driver. I , along with the great majority of my coworkers, paid for every hour of our training via the general aviation route.
It is extremely unlikely that a regional jet pilot is ex military given the shortage in the major airline ranks. I give the captain kudos for making the safer decision and explaining it to the passengers. You should expect nothing less.
EC
Or a split S. Either way, it would shake up the passengers. 🤪
Delta Airlines Verses the U S Air Force. What should we believe? Does the Air Force issue Gold Medallion miles or not?
I’m going with the Air Force, I have over a million Delta Miles, but the biggest advantage has been upgrades. The Air Force has saved the Republic. IMHO.
BUFFy
Twilight Zone thinking.
Delta Airlines Verses the U S Air Force. What should we believe? Does the Air Force issue Gold Medallion miles or not?
I’m going with the Air Force, I have over a million Delta Miles, but the biggest advantage has been upgrades. The Air Force has saved the Republic. IMHO.
You can’t seriously think there are any. At this point, nothing but the airframe is original.
Was the B52 training a new DEI pilot from the same flight school as the helicopter pilot who ran into that jet in DC?
Oopsie daisy.
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