A pilot landing at the Minot Internal Airport in Minot, North Dakota, had to engage in violent maneuvers to avoid being struck by a B-52 Stratofortress.
Thankfully, beyond some shaken up passengers and crew, there was no harm done:
SkyWest Airlines says it’s investigating a near collision between one of its E175s with an Air Force B-52 that prompted one of the regional jet’s pilots to take “aggressive” evasive action at Minot Airport in North Dakota. The E175, flying for Delta Connection, was on final on a flight from Minneapolis Friday evening when pilots saw they were on a converging course with the giant nuclear bomber. “I don’t know how fast they were going but they were going a lot faster than us. I felt it was the safest thing to turn behind them,” he told passengers after the encounter. “Sorry for the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise. It was not normal at all.” The pilot said he doesn’t know why he wasn’t given a “heads up” that the massive Air Force plane was in the pattern. There are dozens of B-52s based at nearby Minot Air Force Base, about 13 miles north of the civilian airport. The pilot got on the PA system after they were on the ground to explain the abrupt turn to the passengers.
I would note that there is an Amtrak station in Minot.
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