Crowd-pleasing fly-over. At North Dakota State Fair moments before near collision with Delta airliner landing at airport. Quick evasive turn by Delta pilot averted collision. Image: Norh Dakota governor
Bomber crew had clearance for fly-over
MINOT, N.D. — The Air Force has blamed an FAA traffic control lapse for a near collision of a B-52 bomber and a Delta airliner Friday. A spokesperson at the Minot Air Force Base, home port of the behemoth B-52, said the plane had clearance from the FAA tower at the city-operated Minot airport for its flight path. The B-52 had just made a ceremonial pass-over at the North Dakota State Fair and the crew was heading back to its base 13 north of the city. Here’s what happened as compiled from the Air Force version and other sources:
> Pre-flight clearances: The flyover had been approved earlier by the Federal Aviation Administration, including the agency’s Minot control center.
> Mission notification: The B-52 crew contacted the Minot tower to prepare for the flyover.
> The B-52 crew circled in a holding pattern 12 miles east of the fairgrounds.
> While holding, the B-52 crew communicated its flyover plan to both FAA’s Minot approach center and control tower.
> 7:40 p.m.: The B-52 crew advised the Minot tower they were departing the holding point for the fairgrounds.
> 7:50 p.m.: The B-52 crossed the fairgrounds stadium.
> After the flyover the B-52 crew contacted the airport tower they were continuing two miles west.
> 8:08 p.m.: The scheduled arrival for Delta Flight 3855 from Minneapolis. Touchdown was delayed by the unexpected mid-air crisis.
> The tower did not advise the inbound Delta pilot about a possible air space conflict. Nor did the tower notify the B-52 crew that the Delta plane was in a descent path to land.
> The B-52 cleared Minot control tower’s airspace and returned 13 miles to the Minot Air Force Base.
B-52 profile
The first B-52 strategic bomber, built by Being, flew in 1952. The formal name was eloquent: Stratofortress. In Air Forces circles they colloquially called them BUFFs, short for Big Ugly Fat Fuckers. B-52s were designed to deliver nuclear weapons on Russia at the height of the Cold War. In all 744 were built. Many were flown in the Vietnam war to drop as much as 72,000 pounds of conventional bombs per mission. Their range was 8,000 miles, longer with in-air refueling. An advanced version, the B-52F, is expected to remain in service until the 2050s. Only 58 are operational. They are based at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. There are also support bases in Australia and Qatar.
Minot airport terminal. For a population of 48,000, the isolated North Dakota city of Minot has an unusually busy airport. The Air Force Base, a few miles out of town, has 5,500 uniformed military members and 6,300 military family members. These personnel rely largely on scheduled airline service in and out.
Trump-worsened crisis
The Federal Aviation Administration reported it was investigating the Minot incident but didn’t respond to the Air Force summary of what happened. The agency has had a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers nationally. The crisis has been exacerbated by President Trump, who has 400 air traffic controllers and moved to cut even more. Recent high-profile incidents:
> Washington National Airport. On January 29 an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into an American Airlines plane 300 feet up in a landing pattern. Death toll: 67.
> Newark International Airport. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted June 6 largely because air traffic controllers were stretched too thin.
> Minot. On July 18
Plagued with worsening shortages, the FAA has put controllers on overtime schedules and extra shifts despite concomitant fatigue and compromised alertness from overload. The agency also has assigned rookie controllers, fresh out of training. into critical positions into control towers.