A Southwest Airlines aircraft and a business jet that entered the runway without authorization narrowly avoided a collision at Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW).
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the incident occurred at around 08:50 local time on February 25, 2025. The Southwest aircraft, a Boeing 737-8H4 registered as N8517F, was performing flight WN2504 from Omaha (OMA) to Chicago (MDW).
Live stream footage seen by AeroTime shows the Southwest flight preparing to land at Chicago Midway Airport when it was forced to pull up suddenly after a business jet taxied directly in front of the aircraft. The business jet belongs to Flexjet, a luxury private jet company offering aviation services based in Ohio and had been heading to Knoxville.
Crisis ! In a shocking visual, Southwest Flight WN2504 had a near-miss incident at Chicago Midway International Airport on Tuesday morning when the FlexJet Flight LXJ560 crossed Runway 31C.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 aborted its landing and did a go-around to evade the… pic.twitter.com/rq6kJ4tO7N
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) February 25, 2025
The Southwest aircraft executed a go-around maneuver to avoid a collision, circling back to land again, according to Flightradar24 data.
Audio from air traffic control published to FlightAware revealed that the two aircraft were only 2,050 feet apart, ABC 7 Chicago reported. Aviation experts told ABC 7 Chicago that the situation could have been much worse if the Southwest pilot hadn’t made that decision to perform the maneuver.
Southwest released a statement confirming that its crew had followed safety procedures and that the flight landed safely at Chicago Midway Airport. No injuries were reported.
“The crew’s quick thinking and professionalism exemplify our unwavering focus on Safety, and Southwest is grateful for their swift and decisive actions,” the statement read.
US Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy stated on X that the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation into the incident. He added that “it is imperative that pilots follow the instructions of air traffic controllers” or their “licenses will be pulled”.
The event is the latest in a series of near-miss incidents across the US.
On September 12, 2024, an Alaska Airlines aircraft nearly collided with a Southwest Airlines aircraft on the same runway at Nashville International Airport (BNA). In August 2024, an American Eagle aircraft bound for Philadelphia collided with a tug tractor at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).
In late 2023, a hearing by the US Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation subcommittee highlighted that a shortage of air traffic controllers (ATCs) has led to a spike in aircraft close calls at airports.
