The pilot of a Delta Air Lines plane operating a regional flight apologized to passengers after making a sharp turn to avoid colliding with a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber.
The incident occurred on Friday on SkyWest flight 3788, operated by Delta Connection, traveling from Minneapolis (Minnesota) to Minot (North Dakota), as reported by SkyWest company in a statement cited by CNN.
The plane landed safely in Minot, "after initially having to abort the landing procedure because another aircraft appeared on its flight path," the statement said.
The incident is being investigated by SkyWest Airlines. The control tower involved does not belong to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), so the institution does not yet have an official report. The FAA stated that it is gathering information about the events.
In the audio recording of a video posted on TikTok, the pilot can be heard explaining what happened. He said the aircraft "was coming straight at us." "No one informed us of its presence," the pilot can be heard saying.
After contacting the control tower, he was told to turn right. Seeing the aircraft on the right side, the air traffic controller then instructed him to turn left.
The plane's pilot stated that the speed of the aircraft indicated it was a military plane.
"I don't know how fast it was going, but it was much faster than us," he said.
At the end, the pilot apologized for the "aggressive maneuver." "It caught me by surprise. In short, it wasn't fun, sorry for that and thank you for understanding," he added, before being greeted with applause.
The Pentagon and Delta Air Lines directed CNN to SkyWest Airlines when asked for details about the incident.
The B-52 Stratofortress is a heavy, long-range bomber capable of performing a variety of missions, according to the Air Force. It can fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 15,000 meters.
It can carry "nuclear or conventional precision-guided munitions, with precision navigation capability worldwide."