STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A flight from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota, had a near miss with a military aircraft on Friday. SkyWest flight 3788 was coming in for a landing at Minot International Airport when the pilot made an abrupt maneuver to avoid colliding with a B-52 bomber.
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
The pilot has not yet been identified, but he apologized to passengers over the intercom. Passenger Monica Green shared the announcement on Instagram after the plane landed safely.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Sorry about the aggressive maneuvering. It caught me by surprise.
INSKEEP: The pilot says that Minot air traffic control failed to inform him about the giant bomber on a converging flight path.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: This is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads-up.
INSKEEP: We can tell you that Minot's air traffic control operates visually. They don't use radar. The towers are staffed by contract employees rather than federal controllers. And the pilot explained to passengers the instructions that he heard.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: He said, turn right. I said, there's an airplane over there. And he says, turn left. And then by the time we read back the clearance, looked over and saw the airplane that was kind of coming on a - long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it.
PFEIFFER: An Air Force spokesperson said as the SkyWest flight was descending, the B-52 aircraft was conducting a flyover at the North Dakota State Fair. Those fairgrounds are about 3 miles from the Minot Airport.
INSKEEP: This is the latest incident involving a commercial airliner and a military aircraft. In January, 67 people died when a jet collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C.
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