Shocking audio reveals moments before Southwest Plane nearly collides with jet at Midway
New shocking audio reveals air traffic controllers warning jet to stop before near crash at Midway
The Southwest plane had to perform a "go-around" to avoid a crash. It landed and quickly took off again.
CHICAGO - A Southwest Airlines plane narrowly avoided colliding with another plane on Tuesday morning at Chicago’s Midway International Airport.
‘Go-around’ avoids collision
What we know:
The Southwest plane, flight 2504, landed safely after having to perform a "precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway," according to a Southwest Airlines spokesperson.
The flight landed without incident.
"Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees," the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said the incident happened around 8:50 a.m.
The other aircraft, a Flexjet business jet, entered the runway without authorization, the FAA said.
No injures were reported.
Video of the incident posted on X by the account Flight Emergency appeared to show the Southwest plane about to land and quickly take off again as the other aircraft crossed the runway.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on its X account that it was investigating the near miss at Midway.
Flexjet released the following statement:
"We are aware of the occurrence today in Chicago. 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."
Congressman ‘Chuy’ Garcia also spoke out about the incident, saying in a post on X that "This is why cuts to FAA are dangerous."
Recent air travel incidents
Big picture view:
Tuesday's near-miss at Midway comes amid heightened anxiety over air travel safety with deadly plane crashes in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia in recent weeks.
Such near misses are also a relatively common occurrence at Midway and O'Hare airports, according to data collected by NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System.
Each year, about one near collision takes place at Midway and a little more than one, on average, happen at O'Hare.