Southwest Pilot Praised For Quick Thinking After Nearly Colliding With Private Jet On Runway At Chicago Midway International Airport

I’m never flying again…

But seriously, what is going on with all of these airplanes lately? I feel like for the last several weeks, we’ve had multiple stories about planes crashing, notably the tragic American Airlines Flight that collided with an Army helicopter midair near Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National that killed all 67 people on board the plane and the helicopter.

There was also the Delta flight that crashed at Toronto’s Pearson airport, which miraculously all the passengers and crew survived. In addition, there have been other crashes and emergencies, like the Medevac jet crash in Philadelphia and another deadly regional airline crash off the coast of Nome, Alaska.

I’m a nervous flyer as it is… so this is all pretty much my worst nightmare. And just this morning, there was another near miss at Chicago Midway International Airport, where a Southwest Flight and a private FlexJet Flight LXJ560 crossed on Runway 31C, barely missing each other.

An airport webcam caught the moment on video, where it looked to be a very sunny, clear morning with nothing but pristine blue skies… ideal flying weather, normally:

Southwest Flight WN2504 had a near-miss incident at Chicago Midway today when FlexJet Flight LXJ560 crossed Runway 31C.

by webcam host #southwestairlines #avgeek #boeing pic.twitter.com/Htqaj04Ift

— Airways Magazine (@airwaysmagazine) February 25, 2025

CNN reports that, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the private jet that entered the runway without authorization. Southwest Flight 2504 landed safely soon after at the Chicago airport, since the flight crew had to perform a go-around to prevent a potential incident.

It took place around 8:50 a.m. local time, and the FAA is investigating the incident, which took place at around 8:50 a.m. local time. The Southwest plane was coming in from Omaha, Nebraska, and the private jet was headed to Knoxville, Tennessee.

CNN also reports that air traffic control instructed the private jet 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 air traffic controller on the ground immediately replies to the pilot, “Flexjet 560, negative! Cross 31L, hold short Runway 31C.” Air traffic controllers reply, “-west 2504, uh, roger that. Climb, maintain 3,000.” Once the plane climbed to 3,000 feet, the pilot asked the tower: “Southwest 2504, uh, how’d that happen?”.

Great question… I think many of us are thinking and asking the same thing.

Southwest gave CNN a pretty basic statement in regard to the incident, saying that “nothing” is more important to them than the “safety of our customers and employees”:

“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.”

Many took to X to praise the Southwest pilot for their quick thinking:

Excellent pilot at Southwest

— Kats (@Katslynx1) February 25, 2025

Yikes! Thank God somebody had their head up. @leadr49

— Santiago (@Santiago97TX) February 25, 2025

The Southwest crew saved lives. The two pilots that taxied across either had permission or didn’t. Either way they are also at fault.
We need the audio to find out if ATC gave them permission to cross the active runway.
People need to lose their jobs over this.

— jhouse678 (@jhouse678) February 25, 2025

This is beyond frustrating to see. There has been such an uptick in near misses over the last few years.

Great work by the Southwest crew to see what was happening and go around. That could have certainly been disastrous.

— Moe (@MauriceCooley) February 25, 2025

Props to the flight crew on the Southwest plane for being so professional and impressive in preventing what could have obviously been a MUCH worse situation, as we’ve all seen in recent weeks.

Be safe out there, y’all… it’s getting dicey, apparently.