A Southwest Airlines flight narrowly avoided a collision with a private plane on a runway in Chicago Tuesday morning, thanks to a last second “go-around” maneuver.
The near-miss was captured on video, which shows the commercial plane about to touch down at Chicago Midway, then quickly lifting off the tarmac as the smaller jet crosses its path to landing.
“The crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 initiated a go-around when a business jet entered the runway without authorization at Chicago Midway Airport,” the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday. “The FAA is investigating the incident, which occurred around 8:50 a.m. local time in a near-miss incident Tuesday.”
Audio posted to Airport Webcams indicates the Southwest flight was cleared for landing before the FlexJet plane is seen crossing onto the runway. Someone seemingly in the larger aircraft asks, “How did that happen?” as the two planes pass.
According to ABC News in Chicago, the FlexJet was at fault for the close call.
“Air Traffic controllers can be heard telling the business jet to hold short and not cross the runway, but the business jet did not follow instructions,” a spokesperson for the FAA reportedly said.
Air Traffic Control recordings seem to show the commercial plane’s landing was being managed by local controllers, while the business jet was being guided through its departure with ground control communicating on a different frequency. The FAA said the planes came within 863 yards of one another.
Recent weeks have been filled with harrowing and sometimes deadly airline encounters.
On Jan. 29, an American Eagle passenger plane collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., leaving all 67 people dead. Two days later, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six people onboard and another person on the ground.
On Feb. 6, 10 people were killed when a small commuter plane crashed in western Alaska.
Surprisingly no one was killed when a Delta flight carrying 76 passengers and four crew members flipped upside down and caught fire following a Feb. 18 crash landing in Toronto.
