By Alyssa Lukpat
A Southwest Airlines plane nearly collided with a business jet at Chicago Midway International Airport Tuesday morning, the airline said, the latest in a string of episodes that have raised questions about aviation safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Southwest Flight 2504 performed a go-around after the business jet entered the runway without authorization around 8:50 a.m. local time. Southwest said its crew performed the precautionary maneuver to avoid "a possible conflict."
"The Crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident," Southwest said.
Surveillance footage from the airport shows the Southwest flight was landing when a smaller plane started crossing the runway, forcing the Southwest aircraft to quickly lift.
In recent weeks there have been a series of aviation incidents that have unnerved fliers and drawn attention to airplane safety. An American Airlines jet and a military helicopter collided in midair last month near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The crash, which killed 67 people, was the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in 23 years. Following that collision, a Delta Air Lines plane crashed while landing in Toronto, a passenger plane crashed in Alaska and a medical transport jet crashed in Philadelphia.
Smaller plane collisions and near misses in recent weeks have drawn outsize attention because of the renewed focus on aviation safety.
Data from the National Transportation Safety Board show there have been fewer aviation accidents so far this year compared with the same period last year. There have been about 90 this year, down from roughly 125 last year.
The FAA said it was investigating the incident in Chicago. The NTSB didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Flight 2504 took off from Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Neb., and landed at 9:10 a.m. local time in Chicago, according to FlightAware.
The Wall Street Journal's airline and aviation-safety reporters hosted a live Q&A about aviation safety Tuesday from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. Read their answers here.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at alyssa.lukpat@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 25, 2025 14:15 ET (19:15 GMT)
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