Southwest Airlines flight abruptly rises to avoid another plane crossing Chicago runway

CHICAGO (AP) — Pilots on a Southwest Airlines flight attempting to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport were forced to make the plane climb suddenly to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway.

Flight 2504 was landing at Chicago’s Midway airport on Tuesday morning, however it had to perform a “precautionary” go-around to avoid a conflict with another aircraft, the airline said.

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Airport webcam video posted to X shows the Southwest plane appear to briefly touch down about 8:50 a.m. CST Tuesday before its nose was abruptly pulled up as the second plane is seen on the runway.

Southwest Flight 2504 safely landed “after the crew performed a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway,” an airline spokesperson said in an email. “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident.”

Audio recording of communication between the crew and the tower includes the ground tower employee breaking off mid-message to the plane.

The pilot then said “Southwest 2504 going around” and followed directions to climb back to 3,000 feet.

Seconds later, the audio captures the pilot asking the tower: “Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?”

The second plane, described as a business jet, entered the runway without authorization, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flexjet, the plane’s owner, said the company is aware “of the occurrence in Chicago.”

“Flexjet adheres to the highest safety standards and we are conducting a thorough investigation,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Any action to rectify and ensure the highest safety standards will be taken.”

Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board say they are investigating the incident.

The Southwest Flight was enroute to Midway Airport from Omaha, Nebraska, according to FlightAware.

The past few weeks have seen four major aviation disasters in North America. They include the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter plane in Alaska that killed all 10 people on board and the Jan. 26 midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport that killed all 67 aboard the two aircraft.

A medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed Jan. 31 into a Philadelphia neighborhood. That crash killed seven people, including all those aboard, and injured 19 others.

Twenty-one people were injured Feb. 17 when a Delta flight flipped and landed on its roof at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

Williams reported from Detroit.