CHICAGO — On Tuesday morning, a Southwest Airlines flight attempting to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport was forced to abort its landing and ascend to avoid a collision with another aircraft that was crossing the runway.
A video from an airport webcam, posted on X, shows the Southwest plane approaching a runway around 9 a.m. Tuesday. The plane then suddenly pulls its nose upward. A smaller jet can be seen crossing the runway that the Southwest plane was intending to use.
A Southwest spokesperson stated in an email that Flight 2504 landed safely “after the crew performed a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway.” The spokesperson added, “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident.”
An audio recording of the communication between the crew and the tower reveals the ground tower employee abruptly stopping mid-message to the plane.
The pilot then announced, “Southwest 2504 going around,” and followed instructions to climb back to 3,000 feet.
Moments later, the audio captures the pilot questioning the tower: “Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the second plane, identified as a business jet, entered the runway without permission.
Flexjet, the owner of the business jet, acknowledged awareness “of the occurrence in Chicago.”
A Flexjet spokesperson stated, “Flexjet adheres to the highest safety standards and we are conducting a thorough investigation. Any action to rectify and ensure the highest safety standards will be taken.”
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have announced investigations into the incident.
The Southwest flight originated in Omaha, Nebraska, and was headed to Midway Airport.
John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, commented that the near-crash demonstrates that “the system worked exactly as it was designed to.”
He explained that this was because the Southwest pilot recognized that the other plane would not stop in time.
Goglia added that the investigation will likely examine factors such as tower staffing levels and the clarity of instructions issued from the tower.
He stated, “Those things do happen,” citing potential miscommunication, including a pilot misunderstanding instructions.
The past few weeks have been marked by four significant aviation incidents in North America. These include the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter plane in Alaska, resulting in the death of all 10 people on board, and the Jan. 26 midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, claiming the lives of all 67 individuals on both aircraft.
On Jan. 31, a medical transport jet carrying a child patient, her mother, and four others crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood. This crash resulted in seven fatalities, including all those on board, and injured 19 others.
On Feb. 17, twenty-one people sustained injuries when a Delta flight flipped and landed on its roof at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Williams reported from Detroit. Associated Press writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.
