In order to avoid another plane crossing the runway, pilots on a Southwest Airlines flight trying to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport had to abruptly climb the aircraft.
At approximately 8:50 a.m. CST on Tuesday, the Southwest plane seems to briefly touch down on airport webcam footage uploaded to X before its nose is suddenly yanked up as the second plane is seen on the runway.
According to an email from an airline representative, Southwest Flight 2504 made a safe landing after the crew did a precautionary go-around to prevent a potential collision with another aircraft that had entered the runway. The flight landed safely thanks to the crew’s adherence to safety protocols.
The ground tower employee breaks off mid-message to the jet in the audio recording of the crew and tower communication.
After saying, “Southwest 2504 going around,” the pilot climbed back to 3,000 feet as instructed.
The pilot can be heard asking the tower, “Southwest 2504, how did that happen?” a few seconds later.
The Federal Aviation Administration claims that the second aircraft, which was identified as a business jet, entered the runway without permission.
In a statement, the FAA stated that it is looking into the incident.
According to FlightAware, the Southwest Flight was traveling from Omaha, Nebraska, to Midway Airport.
