Southwest 737 and small business jet have ‘near collision’ at Chicago Midway Airport

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board say they’re investigating a near-collision Monday between a Southwest Airlines 737 and a small business jet at Chicago’s Midway Airport.

Southwest flight 2504 was arriving from Omaha, Neb. and attempting to land on runway 31-Center at Midway. The skies were clear and the 737 was inches from touching down when the business jet taxied across the runway from left to right.

The 737 crew immediately throttled the engines up to initiate a go-around and flew over the jet, a Canadair Challenger 350, which was preparing to depart to Knoxville, Tenn. One of the Southwest pilot’s asked the tower controller, “How’d that happen?”

In a statement, Southwest said, “The Crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed [at Midway] without incident. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”

A YouTube video, recorded by StreamTime Live, showed the near-collision which was time-stamped at 8:48 a.m. CT.

A different air traffic controller, who was talking to planes taxiing at Midway, had been in communication with the small business jet operating as Flexjet 560. Their interactions could be heard on a recording by LiveATC.net. The ground controller told the pilot to “hold short” of runway 31-Center (meaning do not cross). The pilot repeated the instruction back but got it wrong, saying his plane was cleared to taxi across the active runway.

The controller then corrected him, “Negative! Cross runway 31-Left. Hold short runway 31-Center.” The pilot then said he understood the instruction to hold short and not enter runway 31-Center.

Moments later, the pilot of the private jet crossed the runway as the Southwest jet was about to touch down. The ground controller could be heard saying, “Flexjet 560 hold short!” Then the controller said, “Flexjet 560, hold your position there! … Your instructions were to hold short of runway 31-Center.”

There have been several recent high-profile aviation incidents. Those include a Delta Air Lines regional commuter jet that crashed and rolled upside down Feb. 17 while attempting to land in Toronto (no one died). In January, there was a mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional commuter jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter which killed all 67 on board both aircraft near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. A plane crash in Alaska killed all 10 aboard, and a medical plane crash in Philadelphia killed seven people.

All of those accidents, like Monday’s near-collision, are under investigation. But they come as there’s increasing scrutiny on the nation’s air transportation system (including a shortage of air traffic controllers) as the Trump administration continues to eliminate staff at the F.A.A. and other transportation agencies.

New U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week his team is ready for the challenge. “America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world.”