Pilot Mixed Up Runways In Near Miss At Midway, Report Says

CHICAGO — Sunny conditions and a runway mix-up played a role in a near-miss last month involving a Southwest Airlines plane and a business jet at Chicago Midway International Airport, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The incident occurred at 8:48 a.m. Feb. 25 and involved Flexjet flight 560, a Bombardier Challenger 350 CL-35 bound for Tennessee, and Southwest flight 2504, a Boeing 737-800 arriving from Omaha. The two aircraft passed less than 200 feet from each other, the report said.

Video of the near-miss posted by the X account Airport Webcams showed the Southwest plane appearing to fly in for a landing when the jet crossed its runway and the commercial plane navigated up at an angle to avoid a collision.

Sun impeded visibility for the jet crew ahead of the incident and the captain confused runway 13C/31C for 13R/31L, according to the report, which noted the crew said they looked to the left and right as they approached the runway but that they did not see the Southwest plane. As the jet neared the Southwest flight’s runway, ground control instructed the jet to stop but the transmission was not acknowledged, according to the report.

“Once the captain cleared the runway safety area, he stopped the airplane and ground control informed them that they had crossed 31C,” the report said.

The Southwest crew said they were cleared to approach runway 31C but the captain and first officer saw the jet taxiing perpendicular to the runway and the first officer realized the jet was not stopping so the captain executed a go-around, according to the report.

The Flexjet flight departed about 25 minutes after the incident, the report said, adding the investigation is ongoing.