Air Force Blames Tower In B-52 Near Miss With Flight From Minneapolis

MINOT, ND — A B-52 bomber from Minot Air Force Base performed a flyover at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds on Friday evening, part of a celebration honoring Minot as a "Great American Defense Community."

But the flyover is now under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration after a commercial flight from Minneapolis was forced to abort its landing during the bomber’s approach.

According to a statement released Monday by Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs, the flight was pre-planned and received proper approval from the FAA, including coordination with Minot International Airport air traffic control and Minot Approach Control (RAPCON).

The crew of the B-52 contacted Minot Approach around 7:10 p.m. Friday to begin preparations. The aircraft held position 12 miles east of the fairgrounds while communicating its plan to both RAPCON and the Minot airport tower. At 7:40 p.m., the B-52 departed the holding point.

Three minutes later, it was directed to switch communication to Minot International Airport’s tower, which cleared the crew to fly two miles west after passing over the fairgrounds.

"The tower did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft," the base noted in its statement.

The bomber crossed the show center at 7:50 p.m. and continued west as directed, ultimately returning to Minot Air Force Base.

No other details about the potential conflict or the commercial aircraft involved were released. The FAA investigation is ongoing.

Passengers aboard the SkyWest Delta connection flight to Minot reported feeling the plane swerve sharply during its final approach.

"Sorry about the aggressive maneuver," the pilot told passengers after the plane landed safely. "It caught me by surprise. This is not normal at all."

"I don’t know why they didn’t give us a heads up," he continued, according to a recording from the conversation. "The [Minot] Air Force base does have radar, and nobody said, 'Hey, there’s also a B-52 in the pattern.'"

The pilot noted that the commercial airport in Minot relies on visual operations and does not have radar.

The flight path was erratic, as shown here when the Minneapolis flight abruptly looped away to avoid the military aircraft.

At the time of the incident, passenger Monica Green texted her husband, "My plane keeps circling and not landing," according to a screenshot shared with the New York Times.

In a statement, SkyWest said Sunday that Flight 3788 had "performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible" in its flight path as it tried to land at the Minot airport on Friday.