A near miss occurred this afternoon as a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 had to perform a late go-around to avoid a private jet at Chicago Midway Airport (MDW).
Southwest Airlines Flight has a Near Miss in Chicago
The near miss occurred just before 9:00a local time when Southwest Flight 2504 from Omaha’s Eppley Airfield (OMA) was landing on Runway 31C at Chicago Midway. The Boeing 737-800, registered as N8517F, was inches away from touching down when a FlexJet Bombardier Challenger 350, registered as N560FX crossed the runway in front of the Southwest jet.
The FlexJet aircraft was preparing to depart for McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, TN and had been instructed to hold short of the runway to allow the Southwest aircraft to land.
ATC audio from the incident highlights confusion from the FlexJet pilot as he incorrectly repeats instructions back to ATC before being corrected. After correctly repeating the instructions a second time the pilot proceeded to deviate from those instructions. He crossed the runway, apparently none the wiser about his mistake.
“Tower, Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?”
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 25, 2025
Here’s how it happened. ADS-B data + ATC audio of today’s runway incursion in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/Evvup7qZIu
The Southwest aircraft performed a go-around and landed safely on the second attempt. The FlexJet aircraft eventually departed for Knoxville, arriving safely around noon.
Unlike many recent aviation events, clear video of the incident was captured via a webcam live stream. I have to imagine there were quite a few avgeeks watching this in shock.
🔴 Southwest Flight WN2504 had a near-miss incident at Chicago Midway today when FlexJet Flight LXJ560 crossed Runway 31C.
— Airways Magazine (@airwaysmagazine) February 25, 2025
by webcam host #southwestairlines #avgeek #boeing pic.twitter.com/Htqaj04Ift
What Happened Here?
While this incident is currently under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) it appears pretty clear to me what occurred. The Southwest flight was cleared to land on Runway 31C when the FlexJet aircraft entered the active runway. The pilot had been told to hold short of the runway but was clearly confused based on ATC communications.
First and foremost, kudos to the Southwest pilot for reacting quickly to avoid the FlexJet aircraft. The Boeing 737-800 was a split second from touching down when the incident occurred and this could have been a much more dangerous situation if it wasn’t for the crew’s quick thinking.
Secondly, what in the world was going on in the cockpit of that FlexJet Challenger 350. There was no weather to speak of that could have impaired the vision of the pilot and the incident occurred in broad daylight. Each runway is clearly marked so I’d be interested to see what non-operational chatter may have been ongoing when this happened.
Finally, this incident is getting extra scrutiny due to a string of high profile aviation incidents in the last few weeks, sparked by the deadly crash between an American Eagle CRJ-700 and an Army Blackhawk helicopter in Washington D.C. last month. This was further compounded last week when a Delta Connection CRJ-900 crashed while landing in Toronto.
The good news here is that both aircraft were able to safely continue on without issue.
Summary
A Southwest Boeing 737-800 was forced to perform a go-around during a near miss with a private jet at Chicago Midway Airport. Based on the video and ATC audio at the time the private jet, operated by FlexJet, entered the runway without clearance directly into the path of the Southwest plane. Fortunately, both planes were able to continue on safely.