In the last few hours, it has been revealed via video that two planes at Chicago Midway Airport nearly collide in a near-miss incident that is being investigated.
Information has surfaced regarding the two aircraft involved in what could have been a catastrophic accident.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
The Two Planes That Nearly Collide At Chicago Midway Airport…
The two planes at Chicago Midway Airport that nearly collide are Southwest Airlines flight WN2504 from Omaha and FlexJet flight LXJ560 bound for Knoxville.
Furthermore, the two aircraft involved are N8517F and N560FX.
N8517F is a 8.2 year old Boeing 737-800 that was delivered to the commercial airline back in December 2016, as per Planespotters.net.
Of the 737-800 variant, Southwest Airlines has 203 of them in their fleet.
Moreover, of the 203, all but seven are in active service, with an average age of 9.5 years.
On the other hand, N560FX is a Bombardier Challenger 350 that was delivered to FlexJet back in December 2021, as per Planelogger.
Southwest Airlines flight WN2504 departed Omaha at 0726 local time this morning (February 25th) and tracked towards Chicago Midway Airport.
The arrival phase was normal until moments before touchdown into the U.S airport.
BREAKING: The FAA is investigating the *near collision* of a landing Southwest Airlines 737 and a Flexjet Challenger 350 that taxiied across the same runway "without authorization" at Chicago Midway Airport. pic.twitter.com/OblS7HYks0
— Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) February 25, 2025
During the landing phase, Flexjet flight LXJ560 was taxiing out for a departure bound for Knoxville in Tennessee.
It is understood that air traffic control told the FlexJet aircraft to hold short of Runway 31C, to allow the Southwest Airlines flight to land.
However, the aircraft continued to taxi across the runway without authorisation whilst the Boeing 737-800 was just feet above the ground.
From there, the Southwest Airlines crew initiated a go-around.
Only one more attempt was needed by the Southwest Airlines crew.
The aircraft landed safely without further incident at 0910 local time.
The FAA Is Investigating the Near-Miss Incident…
Following the two planes at Chicago Midway Airport suffering a near-collide incident, the FAA has opened an investigation.
Via a statement from their newsroom, they said the following:
“The crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 initiated a go-around when a business jet entered the runway without authorization at Chicago Midway Airport.”
“The FAA is investigating the incident, which occurred around 8:50 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Feb. 25.”
UPDATE: The FlexJet was with Ground ATC who commanded the flight to cross Runway 31L but *hold short* of 31C (ie. to let the Southwest land from his right to left on 31C).
Skip to 17m 30s: https://t.co/RBXyaebwKIhttps://t.co/VBd4m1XaBD
— Airport Webcams (@AirportWebcams) February 25, 2025
With the FlexJet aircraft being instructed by Air Traffic Control to hold short, this will no doubt be the main thrust in the investigation.
As soon as we have more information, we will update you accordingly.
For now, this remains a developing story pending additional information that may come through.
Be sure to stay up to date on the AviationSource website for more updates.
