Delta Plane Narrowly Misses Collision with B-52 Bomber

In a harrowing incident over North Dakota skies, a Delta Connection pilot was forced to yank his passenger jet into a sharp turn to avoid a mid-air disaster—after an Air Force B-52 bomber suddenly appeared on a collision course.

The close call unfolded on July 18, as Delta Flight 3788, operated by SkyWest Airlines, approached Minot International Airport on a short hop from Minneapolis-St. Paul. The 90-minute flight was uneventful—until it wasn’t.

According to passengers and crew, the Embraer E175 jet had begun its descent into Minot when air traffic control rerouted it due to spacing issues with another aircraft. But what no one expected was a massive U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress suddenly barreling toward them, fast and unannounced.

“We had no heads up,” the pilot later told stunned passengers. “Given his speed…I don’t know how fast they were going, but they were a lot faster than us.”

Realizing the two aircraft were on a converging trajectory, the pilot made an aggressive, last-second maneuver—yanking the jet behind the bomber in a steep, disorienting turn to avoid catastrophe.

After safely landing at Minot, the visibly shaken pilot addressed passengers over the intercom.

“Sorry about that aggressive move,” he said. “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 thank you for understanding.”

Passengers, though rattled, applauded the pilot’s quick thinking.

Monica Green, a passenger seated near the wing, described the moment to reporters: “We felt the jet bank hard, really hard. It wasn’t turbulence—it was something else. Then the pilot came on and was very calm but clearly surprised himself. He explained what happened after we landed. Honestly, he kept us calm.”

Minot International Airport doesn’t have its own radar system and relies on visual cues and air traffic control from other facilities—a glaring vulnerability considering its close proximity to Minot Air Force Base, one of the country’s key military hubs.

Aviation watchdogs have long raised concerns over the complex and often strained coordination between civilian and military airspace operations in the region.

“This was a wake-up call,” said retired FAA investigator Mark Holland. “You’ve got massive military aircraft flying over shared airspace near a civilian airport with no radar? It’s a miracle nothing worse happened.”

The U.S. Air Force confirmed one of its B-52 bombers was in the area, reportedly performing a flyover for the North Dakota State Fair. “We are aware of the incident and are reviewing the circumstances,” an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement.

SkyWest Airlines issued a brief statement: “Flight 3788 landed safely in Minot after performing a go-around due to another aircraft becoming visible in the flight path. We are cooperating with investigators.”

The FAA has opened a formal inquiry. The Air Force has not yet revealed whether proper coordination procedures were followed during the bomber’s mission.

Both the FAA and SkyWest are now digging into what went wrong—and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. At the heart of the investigation is a key question: why was a massive military bomber allowed to operate near a commercial flight path without adequate notification or tracking?

Sources close to the investigation say the FAA is considering whether to push for updated radar systems at regional airports like Minot, especially in areas where military operations are routine.

“Somebody dropped the ball,” said Holland. “And next time, the consequences might not be so lucky.”