The pilot of a civilian passenger jet made a sharp and abrupt maneuver just prior to landing at a North Dakota airport to avoid an Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber that was performing a low-level pass over a nearby fairgrounds.
The civilian jet dove out of its landing pattern down to roughly 500 feet off the ground to avoid the Air Force bomber, according to flight tracking data and an announcement made by the flight’s pilot to passengers which has circulated on social media.
Air Force officials released a statement insisting the military jet was following instructions from local air traffic controllers when the incident occurred. The B-52, the Air Force said, had been approved by local air traffic controllers to make a pre-arranged fly-by of the North Dakota State Fairgrounds as the civilian flight approached the airport to land.
The incident, which occurred on the evening of Friday, July 18, happened as the civilian airplane, an Embraer E175 flying as SkyWest flight 3788, was in its approach to Minot’s airport. The airport is adjacent to the city of Minot, 13 miles south of the Air Force Base of the same name. As the plane descended toward the airport, the pilot spotted the B-52 approaching on what appeared to be a collision course. The SkyWest pilot dove the airplane away from the military jet, flying a loop before landing without further incident.
A video of the pilot’s debrief to the plane’s passengers was posted to social media, including the r/Aviation subreddit. In it the pilot calmly explains to passengers what happened and why he took a sharp turn.
“For those of you on the right‑hand side, you probably saw the airplane kind of sort of coming at us. Nobody told us about it, so we continued and there’s no radar here, so the tower does everything visually,” the pilot said.
The pilot noted the speed of the incoming plane, making it a military aircraft, and said the best thing to do to avoid a collision was to make a turn. He apologized for the incident.
“I don’t know why they didn’t give us a heads up,” the pilot continued. “Because the airport base does have radar, and nobody said ‘hey, there’s also a B‑52 in the pattern.’”
Minot Air Force Base is home to the 5th Bomb Wing, which operates 26 B-52 Stratofortresses. An Air Force spokesperson said in a statement that the service is looking into the matter.
“We can confirm that a B-52 aircraft assigned to Minot AFB conducted a flyover of the North Dakota State Fair Friday evening,” the statement said.
In a statement posted on July 22, Minot Air Force Base said that a B-52 doing a flyover at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds. Over the course of 40 minutes the bomber crew was in contact with Minot Approach and the Minot International Airport’s air traffic control tower. At 7:43 p.m., the Air Force said, the B-52 crew was told to contact the civilian airport.
“The B-52 crew contacted Minot International Airport tower and the tower provided instructions to continue 2 miles westbound after the flyover,” the Air Force said. “The tower did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft.”
The Federal Aviation Administration told Task & Purpose it is investigating the incident.
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SkyWest, which operated the regional connector flight for Delta Air Lines, said that the incident is under investigation.
“SkyWest flight 3788, operating as Delta Connection from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Minot, North Dakota on July 18, landed safely in Minot after being cleared for approach by the tower but performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path,” SkyWest’s statement said.
The close call at Minot is the latest aviation near miss this year. In March, a Delta flight leaving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. came close to an inbound Air Force T-38. Air traffic controllers were able to instruct the pilots of the aircraft on new headings in order to avoid a collision. That incident came only two months after a fatal collision over the Potomac River near the same airport. In January, an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane, killing all three soldiers on the helicopter and the 64 people on the plane.
Update: 7/22/2025; This story was updated with a new statement from Minot Air Force Base on July 22.
