U.S. authorities probing airliner’s close call with B-52 bomber

WASHINGTON (AFP) — United States aviation regulators said Monday they are investigating a recent close call in which a passenger plane took emergency action to avoid a mid-air collision with a US military bomber.

A Delta flight operated by SkyWest took off Friday from Minneapolis and was approaching the city of Minot, North Dakota when the pilot rapidly rerouted after seeing another aircraft nearing from the right.

“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 told passengers, according to recorded audio of the commercial pilot.

“Sorry about the aggressive maneuver,” he said. “This is not normal at all.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that US officials are “investigating the event involving SkyWest Airlines Flight 3788 at Minot International Airport on 18 July.

SkyWest said it has also begun a probe. The flight was cleared for approach by the tower “but performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path,” the carrier said in a statement reported by US media.

The US Air Force base near Minot confirmed in a statement that a B-52 bomber performed an approved flyover Friday night at the North Dakota State Fair, and said the crew was communicating with air traffic controllers at Minot’s commercial airport.