Southwest Airways flight abruptly rises to keep away from one other airplane crossing Chicago runway

Southwest Flight 2504 safely landed “after the crew carried out a precautionary go-around to keep away from a doable battle with one other plane that entered the runway,” an airline spokesperson mentioned in an e mail. File
| Photograph Credit score: AP

Pilots on a Southwest Airways flight trying to land at Chicago’s Halfway Airport have been pressured to climb again into the sky to keep away from one other plane crossing the runway on Tuesday morning (February 25, 2025).

Airport webcam video posted to X exhibits the Southwest airplane approaching a runway simply earlier than 9 a.m. Tuesday (February 25, 2025) earlier than its nostril abruptly pulls up. A smaller jet is seen crossing the runway that the passenger airplane was set to make use of.

Southwest Flight 2504 safely landed “after the crew carried out a precautionary go-around to keep away from a doable battle with one other plane that entered the runway,” an airline spokesperson mentioned in an e mail. “The crew adopted security procedures and the flight landed with out incident.”

Audio recording of communication between the smaller jet and the management tower recorded its pilot misstating directions from a floor tower worker, who repeated that the pilot ought to “maintain quick” of a runway. About 30 seconds later, the bottom tower ordered the pilot “maintain your place there.”

The tower worker is then heard saying: “FlexJet560, your directions have been to carry in need of runway 31 middle.”

Individually, a recording of communication between the Southwest crew and one other floor tower worker captured its pilot reporting “Southwest 2504 going round” and following instructions to climb again to three,000 ft.

Seconds later, the audio captures the pilot asking the tower: “Southwest 2504, how’d that occur?”

The second airplane, described as a enterprise jet, entered the runway with out authorisation, in line with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flexjet, the airplane’s proprietor, mentioned the corporate is conscious “of the prevalence in Chicago.”

“Flexjet adheres to the very best security requirements and we’re conducting a radical investigation,” a spokesperson mentioned in an announcement. “Any motion to rectify and make sure the highest security requirements will likely be taken.”

Each the FAA and the Nationwide Transportation Security Board say they’re investigating the incident.

The Southwest Flight was en path to Halfway Airport from Omaha, Nebraska, in line with FlightAware.

Air visitors management audio makes clear that the enterprise jet did not heed clear instruction to not cross the runway, mentioned Jeff Guzzetti, a former NSTB member and former FAA investigator.

Mr. Guzzetti known as it a “very critical runway incursion,” however added: “Nevertheless, the sky just isn’t falling as a result of final 12 months was the bottom recorded variety of critical runway incursions in a decade.”

There have been 22 of those critical occasions in 2023, however simply seven in 2024, he mentioned, citing FAA knowledge.

There could be a number of elements that contribute to those incidents, Mr. Guzzetti mentioned: “Was the crew distracted? Was the controller overworked?”

John Goglia, a former NTSB member, mentioned the near-crash exhibits “the system labored precisely because it was designed to.”

That’s as a result of the Southwest pilot was conscious that the opposite airplane wasn’t going to cease in time, he mentioned.

In probing the incident, investigators will doubtless have a look at elements together with how well-staffed the tower was and whether or not directions popping out of the tower have been clear, he mentioned.

“These issues do occur,” he mentioned, citing doable miscommunication, together with a pilot mishearing directions.

The previous few weeks have seen 4 main aviation disasters in North America. They embrace the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter airplane in Alaska that killed all 10 individuals on board and the January 26 midair collision between an Military helicopter and an American Airways flight at Washington’s Ronald Reagan Nationwide Airport that killed all 67 aboard the 2 plane.

A medical transport jet with a baby affected person, her mom and 4 others aboard crashed Jan. 31 right into a Philadelphia neighborhood. That crash killed seven individuals, together with all these aboard, and injured 19 others.

Twenty-one individuals have been injured February 17 when a Delta flight flipped and landed on its roof at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.