Skywest Flight Performed 'go-around' To Avoid Colliding With A Second Aircraft

A SkyWest formation had to execute a go-around maneuver aft it astir collided pinch a subject craft Friday earlier it landed successful North Dakota.

The aerial postulation power building had cleared nan level to attack nan airport, but nan aviator "performed a go-around erstwhile different craft became visible successful their formation path," SkyWest said successful a statement.

Delta Flight 3788, operated by SkyWest, landed safely successful Minot, North Dakota, aft it flew successful from Minneapolis, nan hose said.

SkyWest said it is investigating nan incident.

The Defense Department referred NBC News to nan Federal Aviation Administration, which said it is "gathering information" astir nan incident.

The near-collision Friday comes conscionable six months aft a military chopper collided pinch a rider plane adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport successful nan Virginia suburbs of Washington, sidesplitting 67 people.

In video posted to societal media and verified by NBC News, nan plane's aviator explains to passengers what happened successful nan aerial and apologizes for what he called an "aggressive maneuver."

The aviator says that nan ATC building instructed him to move correct but that erstwhile he looked over, he saw an craft that he identified arsenic a B-52 bomber. He says that he was past instructed to move near but that astatine that point, he looked complete and "saw nan airplane that was benignant of coming connected a converging people pinch us."

The 2nd craft was moving faster than nan SkyWest plane, nan aviator says, truthful he made nan determination to move down it.

"So, sorry astir nan fierce maneuver. It caught maine by surprise," nan aviator says successful nan video. "This is not normal astatine all. I don't cognize why they didn't springiness america a heads up."

The aviator concludes: "Long communicative short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it, and convey you for understanding." The passengers applaud, nan video shows.

The rider who recorded nan video, Monica Green, said she was "so sick to my tummy that that was truthful adjacent to happening."

She said she felt nan level return a difficult move and past "I conscionable retrieve nan level going, like, sideways ... and conscionable looking consecutive retired nan model and conscionable seeing grass, for illustration you weren't seeing nan skyline anymore." She said she is eager to return to nan airdrome successful Minot to alert home.

In nan video, nan aviator besides mentions that nan building that serves Minot International Airport does not person a radar and that controllers trust only connected visuals to make calls.

The Air Force Base adjacent does person radar, nan aviator says, which causes him to wonderment why cipher said, "Hey, there's besides a B-52 successful nan pattern."

NBC News aviation expert Jeff Guzzetti said nan deficiency of radar capacity astatine smaller airdrome is not astatine each uncommon.

"There are galore mini airports crossed nan state that person commercialized work that don't person radar. Instead, they'll person immoderate benignant of coordinating connection pinch different radar installation respective miles away, possibly pinch a subject base," Guzzetti said.

Since nan airdrome successful Minot is truthful small, nan national authorities allows it to beryllium a "contract tower," Guzzetti said. That intends nan aerial postulation controllers are not national labor but are contractors hired by nan FAA who are usually retired controllers.

Contract towers are besides not unheard of, he said — location are 265 of them successful nan United States.

The cardinal question, Guzzetti said, is really overmuch coordination location was betwixt nan Air Force guidelines and nan airport.

“I wouldn’t deliberation that you would request a much powerful radar strategy aliases a larger building to forestall things for illustration this,” Guzzetti said. "I conscionable deliberation that you request bully coordination betwixt nan subject guidelines and nan section civilian airdrome to activity together to debar these types of adjacent misses."