Delta Air Lines flight near miss with B-52 bomber sees US ATC in the spotlight again
July 21, 2025
A Delta branded regional airliner was forced to perform a missed approach to avoid a potential midair collision with a US Air Force B-52 bomber.
SkyWest Airlines Flight 3788, operating as a Delta Connection service from Minneapolis to Minot in North Dakota, had been cleared to land when the incident occurred on 18 July.
Embraer jet makes ‘aggressive’ maneuver to avoid bomber aircraft
The airline said in a statement that the pilot “performed a go-around when another aircraft became visible in their flight path”. SkyWest added that it is investigating the incident involving one of its Embraer E175s.
The FAA said it was also investigating the incident.
US Air Force officials said a B-52 bomber was participating in a scheduled flyover for the North Dakota State Fair, which was being held in Minot.
The pilot of the SkyWest flight addressed passengers shortly after the go-around, explaining that the bomber appeared to be on a converging course.
“Nobody told us” about the other aircraft, he reportedly said, calling the manoeuvre an “aggressive” but necessary action.
“This is not normal at all,” the pilot told those onboard, according to video shared on social media.
The incident comes against the backdrop of longstanding concerns about airspace coordination between military and civilian aviation.
Air traffic control under scrutiny again
The US ATC infrastructure is a patchwork of mid-20th-century radars, analogue radios, copper wiring, and countless paper flight strips, all flagged as “unsustainable” or at risk in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
Congress has authorised $12.5 billion to kickstart modernisation, described by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as merely a “down payment.”
In early July 2025, the FAA issued a Request for Solutions (RFS), seeking industry proposals for an entirely new ATC system, accelerating delivery to a three-to four-year timeframe.
In a recent deadly incident that underlines the seriousness of the problem, in January an American Airlines regional jetliner operated by PSA Airlines and carrying 64 people collided with a US Army U-60 Black Hawk helicopter carrying three military personnel, as it prepared to land at Ronald Reagan Washington Airport in the US. All onboard were killed in the incident.
