Footage reveals the moment a Southwest Airlines jet narrowly avoided a collision with a private plane on the runway at Chicago Midway Airport.
Earlier today (February 25) at around 8:50am local time, Southwest Flight 2504 was arriving at Chicago Midway International Airport from Omaha, Nebraska and a private jet – Bombardier Challenger 350 – was taking off, headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, FlightRadar24 reports.
Warning: Contains footage of a near-collision between two planes that some may find upsetting.
Audio from LiveATC.net details air traffic control giving instructions to the private jet, however, the jet ultimately ends up in the way of the incoming Southwest Airlines flight.
Southwest said flight crew were forced to perform a go-around to prevent a collision, CNN reports.
Thankfully, after performing the go-around, the Southwest plane is reported as having safely landed at the airport.
A Southwest spokesperson told CNN: “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
UNILAD has contacted Southwest Airlines and the Chicago Department of Aviation – which manages Chicago Midway International Airport – for comment.
The incident is currently being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which is also investigating several other aviation incidents that have occurred in recent weeks.
On February 17, Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 crashed and flipped upside down at Toronto Airport. Thankfully, all 80 people onboard were safely evacuated.
The incident followed an American Airlines plane colliding with a Black Hawk military helicopter as it was coming in to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport in January.
An expert has since weighed in on why there seems to be an ‘increase’ in plane crashes in recent times.
Aviation expert Jason Matzus, an attorney at Matzus Law, told the US Sun: “While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering’ – which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes, when in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.
“Our perception of an increasing trend is often amplified by media coverage.”
He resolved ‘statistically’ air travel is ‘the safest form of travel’ and ultimately ‘the spate of recent crashes isn’t necessarily indicative of an actual increase in frequency of plane crashes’.