Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago makes last second move before landing to avoid collision

A Southwest Airlines jet on Tuesday morning narrowly avoided a collision with a private jet in Chicago after it decided to ditch its landing attempt just feet from the ground. 

Southwest flight 2504, which departed from Omaha, Nebraska, landed safely at the Chicago Midway International Airport after it made the decision to abort its initial landing, the airline told CNN.

Audio from the air traffic control tower revealed that the private jet mistakenly crossed into the Southwest plane's runway as it prepared to take off for Knoxville, Tennessee. The jet was directed to stop short of the runway, but appeared to misunderstand the direction. 

Air traffic control instructed the private jet to turn left on “Runway 4L, cross Runway 31L and hold short of Runway 31C,” according to audio from LiveATC.net.

Southwest said its flight crew made the right call in ditching its landing attempt, and making a go-around. 

“The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident,” the Southwest spokesperson told CNN. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”

The incident comes after a string of aviation incidents occurred over the past month, including a fatal collision in January that killed all 67 people on the American Airlines flight and the military helicopter near Washington D.C.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that it is investigating the incident, which occurred Tuesday around 8:50 a.m. local time. A video of the incident can be found here.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.