Air travel is hell, folks. The stories of delays, mayhem, and overall strangeness are pervasive and have increased in frequency. I’ve never seen so many stories of naked women at airports or those who stripped down to twerk by the cockpit mid-flight. The computer systems failing, the nationwide glitches—it’s all contributed to airline travel being a crap shoot. Now, we must worry about dodging B-52 bombers?
This must be the wildest pilot apology recorded in quite some time. A Delta pilot had to inform passengers and apologize for an aggressive maneuver he made, which likely shocked everyone onboard, for avoiding a potential mid-air collision with a B-52 bomber (via ABC News):
NEW: Delta pilot makes an "aggressive maneuver" to avoid colliding with a B-52 bomber above Minot, North Dakota.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 20, 2025
New audio footage captured by a passenger onboard the plane reveals what exactly happened, according to the pilot.
"Given his speed ... I don't know how fast they… pic.twitter.com/Hos687fZRm
A Delta regional jet on approach to Minot, North Dakota, made an "aggressive maneuver" to avoid a mid-air collision with a B-52 bomber, according to the Delta pilot.
The incident took place on July 18, according to the airline. The flight, operated by SkyWest, had departed from Minneapolis. Once on the ground, the pilot apologized to passengers for the abrupt move and explained the situation.
"Given his speed ... I don't know how fast they were going, but they were a lot faster than us, I felt it was the safest thing to do to turn behind it," the pilot said, according to a recording of the conversation. "So sorry about the aggressive maneuver, it caught me by surprise, this is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads up, because the Air Force base does have radar ... long story short, it was not fun, but I do apologize for it and thank you for understanding. Not a not a fun day at work."
It's unclear how close the two jets came from each other or if a cockpit alarm was activated to warn the pilots of a potential collision. Minot is home to an Air Force base with B-52 bombers.
I mean, do we need to travel as they did during the days of the Oregon Trail? Rolling the dice on catching dysentery seems a better bet than becoming obliterated by a mid-air collision at this point. What in the fresh hell is going on?
WATCH: Delta Boeing 767 engine bursts into flames after takeoff from LAX airport pic.twitter.com/ASlxjMCGZx
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) July 20, 2025
And last night, Alaska Airlines requested that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground all its flights due to IT issues.
Traveling has always had its issues and debacles, but are they getting worse, or are we just paying attention? I feel like almost hitting B-52 bombers means we’ve reached a new threshold here.
