Southwest plane lands safely in Chicago after close call with jet that went on runway without authorization
A Southwest Airlines plane landed safely at Chicago Midway International Airport after a close call with a business jet that "entered the runway without authorization," according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Southwest Flight 2504, which was arriving from Omaha, Nebraska, landed "without incident" Tuesday morning after the crew "performed a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway," Southwest said in a statement.
The FAA said a business jet went onto the runway without authorization.
Air traffic controllers could be heard telling the business jet to hold short and not cross the runway, but the jet did not follow instructions. The air traffic controller was heard telling the Flexjet pilot, "Your instructions were to hold short of runway 31 center."
Approximately 2,050 feet separated the planes before Southwest initiated its go-around, according to data from FlightRadar24.
"Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees," Southwest said.
A spokesperson for private jet company Flexjet said it "adheres to the highest safety standards" and is "conducting a thorough investigation."
"Any action to rectify and ensure the highest safety standards will be taken," the spokesperson said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.
Two friends from Omaha who were on the plane told ABC Chicago station WLS that they didn't realize the near-miss until they saw a video of the incident upon landing at their final destination in Dallas.
"I don't think anybody knew," passenger Caley Maszk told the station. "It was just so calm and like a normal day."
After the go-around, Maszk told WLS that the pilot informed the passengers that there was another plane on the tarmac "and that we just had to do a little loop around for about 10 minutes."
Her friend and fellow passenger, Emily Novak, told WLS that the pilot "kept the situation very calm."
"Things happen, and that's what the pilots are trained for," she told the station. "They're trained to react in bad situations, and they did just that in a very good way."
When she and Novak saw the video of the incident, Maszk said they were "shocked."
"We were also very thankful, because it looked like it was very close," Maszk told the station. "If I could hug the pilot right now, I probably would."
