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A Southwest Airlines jet attempting to land at Midway Airport nearly crashed with a business jet that had crossed into its path Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Officials said the incident occurred shortly before 9 a.m., when Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 from Omaha, Nebraska, was attempting to land.
In a video of the incident posted to social media, the Southwest flight is seen close to touching down, then pulling up as a smaller business jet taxis across its path. The Southwest flight returned to the air before later landing safely and “without incident,” according to an emailed statement from Southwest Airlines.
Omaha resident Caley Maszk was looking out the window of the Southwest plane as it descended and neared the ground. She said it felt as though the plane was “inches” from the ground before “all of a sudden we start going up again.”
Maszk, 32, and the other passengers were confused but not alarmed, she said. Minutes later the pilot calmly explained to them that a plane had been on the runway and their arrival would be slightly delayed.
“We didn’t think anything happened because he was so calm,” Maszk said. “No one talked about it when we were getting off the plane.”
After an hour layover at Midway Maszk boarded another plane to Dallas. It was only when she landed in Texas that she saw a video of the incident and realized how close she and her fellow passengers had been to disaster.
“When we saw the video, right when we landed in Dallas we were shocked because we didn’t know that we were that plane that almost hit another plane,” Maszk said. “It was crazy.”
The crew of the Southwest flight had to initiate a “go-around” to avoid the jet, which was on the runway without authorization, said Steve Kulm, of the FAA.
Bill Bernal, president of the union of Southwest Airlines flight attendants TWU Local 556, lauded the flight crew's actions on board.
“We applaud the sharp skills of the Members of TWU Local 556, the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants on board, and the quick thinking and actions of the pilots, members of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association,” Bernal said in a statement. “Dedication to training and experience saved lives today.”
The pilot of the private jet, owned by Flexjet, appeared to misunderstand an air traffic controller’s instructions, according to audio from LiveATC.net.
Once the Southwest plane reached 3,000 feet, the pilot asked, “Uh, how’d that happen?”
There were no reports of injuries, the Chicago Fire Department said.
Maszk said she was very grateful that the Southwest pilot was experienced and that his training kicked in, adding that his calm demeanor kept passengers from becoming panicked.
“If I ever get the chance to see him I’ll give him a great big hug because I’m so thankful,” she said.
Southwest Airlines, which didn’t release the number of passengers on board, confirmed the crew “performed a precautionary go-around” to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway.
A Flexjet spokesperson said in an email the company was “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,” a Flexjet spokesperson said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia called for a full investigation into the incident in a statement posted on X.
“Thankful no one was hurt in the Midway near-collision. This was a close call, and we need to know how it happened. I’ll be pressing for a full investigation to keep our skies and airports safe. This is why cuts to FAA are dangerous,” Garcia said.
Air traffic control audio makes clear that the business jet failed to heed clear instructions not to cross the runway, said Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB member and former FAA investigator.
Guzzetti called it a “very serious runway incursion,” but added: “However, the sky is not falling because last year was the lowest recorded number of serious runway incursions in a decade.”
There were 22 of these serious events in 2023, but just seven in 2024, he said, citing FAA data.
The near-collision Tuesday is unlikely to lift flyers’ confidence following other high-profile incidents nationwide.
The last major crash that happened at Midway was in December 2005, when a Southwest flight landed in a snowstorm and skidded off the runway, crashing into cars on Central Avenue and killing a 6-year-old boy.
The past few weeks have seen four major aviation disasters in North America. They include the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter plane in Alaska that killed 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 that killed all 67 aboard the two aircraft.
A medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother, and four others aboard crashed on Jan. 31 into a Philadelphia neighborhood. That crash killed seven people, including all those aboard, and injured 19 others.
Twenty-one people were injured Feb. 17 when a Delta Air Lines flight flipped and landed on its roof at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.