Crash averted as aircraft nearly collides with private jet at Chicago airport

The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States has said there was a close call experienced between a Southwest Airlines plane and a private jet that entered the runway without authorisation at Chicago Midway International Airport on Tuesday morning.

CNN reports that the Southwest aircraft of Flight 2504 was arriving from Omaha, Nebraska, while the Bombardier Challenger 350 private jet was headed to Knoxville, Tennessee.

An audio from LiveATC.net revealed that the private jet was instructed by air traffic control to turn left on“Runway 4L, cross Runway 31L and hold short of Runway 31C.”

The pilot replied, saying, “Alright, left on 2 – uh – 4L, cross the 22, or 13C, Flexjet 560.”

The pilot’s response was followed by the air traffic controller’s words, saying, “Flexjet 560, negative! Cross 31L, hold short Runway 31C.”

Air traffic control audio from the tower also shows the moment the pilot of the Southwest plane chose to perform the go-around to avoid the plane on the runway.

Air traffic controllers reply, “-west 2504, uh, roger that. Climb, maintain 3,000.”

Once the plane reached 3,000 feet in the air, the pilot asked the tower, “Southwest 2504, uh, how’d that happen?”.

“The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident,” a Southwest spokesperson said in an email to CNN. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”

Meanwhile, the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the experience which adds to a string of safety incidents in recent weeks.

One of such incident was the deadly midair collision over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last month.

The FAA also recorded a Medevac jet crash in Philadelphia, including a deadly regional airline crash off the coast of Nome, Alaska.