An investigation is under way after a Friday incident in which a Delta regional jet and a B-52 aircraft flew so close together, the Delta jet had to veer off to avoid a potential collision.
On Friday, the Delta jet operated by SkyWest was nearing Minot, North Dakota, when it made an “aggressive maneuver,” according to the Delta pilot, ABC reported.
It was not clear how close the two airplanes were to one another.
A video posted on TikTok indicated that in an announcement to the passengers, the pilot said the aircraft he avoided was “kind of, sort of coming at us.”
“Nobody told us about it,” the pilot said, adding, “This is not normal at all.”
“I don’t know how fast they were going, but they were a lot faster than us,” he said. “I thought that was the safest thing to do was turn behind it.”
The pilot said his “aggressive maneuver” was unplanned.
“It caught me by surprise,” he said.
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“Long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it and thank you for understanding,” he said.
The Air Force issued a statement to ABC, saying, it was “aware of the recent reporting regarding commercial and Air Force aircraft operating in airspace around Minot International Airport. We are currently looking into the matter. We can confirm that a B-52 aircraft assigned to Minot AFB conducted a flyover of the North Dakota State Fair Friday evening.”
“SkyWest flight 3788, operating as Delta Connection from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Minot, North Dakota, 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,” the SkyWest said in its statement.
On Friday (Jul 18), a Delta Connection E175 had a near miss with a USAF B-52 on approach to Minot Airport (North Dakota, US). The airline pilot was forced to make an “aggressive maneuver” to avoid impact.
🎥 Video: @aviationbrk
📊 Flight data: https://t.co/hwU3Kdnd0bUpdates to… pic.twitter.com/gt2yotiUlP
— AirNav Radar (@AirNavRadar) July 20, 2025
Monica Green said her fellow passengers were calm during the incident, according to KFYR-TV.
“We took a really hard turn, and that’s when the pilot got on the intercom and said, ‘Sorry everybody, I’ll explain everything when we land safely.’ The way he said it, it almost sounded like he was insinuating that landing safely might not be an option for a moment. We all just kind of looked at each other and stayed quiet,” she said.
“He was very casual, if you can be casual about something like that, but you could tell he was stressed. He was almost shaking, trying to find the right words, but he was nice and detailed. It felt good that they weren’t just going to brush it off,” she said.
Green said she did not see the other plane.
Green said after she landed, “I heard some people saying their friends saw it from the ground. The other plane nearly hit us, and it went so low it passed under us.”
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