A Southwest Airlines plane and a private business jet narrowly avoided a collision at Chicago’s Midway Airport on Tuesday morning, CBS News has confirmed.
Video shows Southwest flight 2504 from Omaha coming in for a landing at the airport, then quickly aborting to avoid a potential collision with the business jet that was taxiing across the runway. The Southwest flight was just inches from the ground when the pilots throttled up and climbed skyward to avoid the business jet. Seconds later, the Southwest plane flew over the business jet at an approximate altitude of 250 feet, according to preliminary flight data.
A statement from Southwest Airlines confirming the incident said Flight 2504 landed safely Tuesday morning at Midway Airport “after the crew performed a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway.”
“The Crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees,” the statement continued.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said the event, which took place around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday. occurred when a business jet “entered the runway without authorization.”
