- A Southwest Airlines flight narrowly avoided a collision with a private jet in Chicago on Tuesday.
- The private jet entered the runway “without authorization,” the FAA said.
- The incident adds to the string of recent safety concerns in aviation.
The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into a near-miss incident between a Southwest Airlines jet and a private jet at Chicago’s Midway Airport on Tuesday.
The moment was captured on video, with the Southwest plane appearing to be just feet above the runway before aborting the landing as the smaller jet crosses ahead of it.
A Southwest spokesperson told Business Insider that the passenger plane did a “go-around” to avoid a collision, circling to try another landing.
“The crew followed safety procedures, and the flight landed without incident,” according to the airline. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”
According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the flight took off from Omaha, Nebraska, and landed safely in Chicago about 15 minutes after the go-around at 9:02 a.m. local time.
“Tower, Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?” According to BI’s review of radio recordings, the Southwest pilot asked air traffic controllers after the go-around.
The FAA told BI that the private Bombardier plane “entered the runway without authorization” and is looking into the incident.
Another safety incident in the US
The near-miss is the latest in a series of safety-related incidents across North America. On Monday, a Delta flight was forced to return to Atlanta after takeoff due to reported smoke in the cabin.
A week earlier, a Delta flight crashed in Toronto and flipped upside down. In January, an American Airlines plane collided with an Army helicopter over Washington, DC, killing 67 people.
None of the accidents or incidents appear to be related at this time, but an increase in near-misses is one of the risks that aviation industry insiders are concerned about, particularly in light of the American midair collision.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has pledged to improve the nation’s ATC systems.
