A SOUTHWEST plane and a private jet have narrowly avoided a crash in the latest air emergency to plague the United States.
Harrowing video captured the close call on a runway at the Chicago Midway Airport on Tuesday and the pilot’s stunned reaction.
The emergency unfolded as a Southwest plane prepared to land at the airport in Illinois at around 8:50 am local time.
As the passenger plane descended toward the runway, the private jet slowly moved across its travel path.
At the last minute, Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 abandoned its effort to land and veered back up into the air, narrowly avoiding the private plane, a Bombardier Challenger 350.
“How’d that happen?” a pilot was heard asking in audio from an air traffic control tower at the airport.
The Southwest plane was coming from Omaha, Nebraska, while the private jet was headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, according to FlightRadar24.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was the private jet that caused the near-disaster.
“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 agency said in a statement.
“The FAA is investigating the incident.”
The National Transportation Safety Board called the close call a “runway incursion.”
The agency wrote, “NTSB is investigating Tuesday’s runway incursion that occurred when a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 initiated a go-around after a business jet entered the same runway at Chicago Midway International Airport.”
Southwest said its crew followed safety procedures, and the flight landed without incident.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees,” the company said.
The near-miss caused a flurry of concern online as social media users shared their shock over the close call.
“That could have been a tragic disaster. Somebody needs to be fired,” one X user wrote.
“This is getting out of hand,” another noted.
PLANE CRASHES & MISHAPS
It comes a day after Delta passengers had to evacuate on an emergency slide during a scary landing at an airport in Atlanta.
All 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants were forced to escape the plane as smoke filled the cabin shortly after take-off.
No one was hurt in the ordeal.
Just a week earlier, another Delta plane flipped on a runway in Toronto and erupted into flames.
Miraculously, no one was killed in the terrifying crash.
Recent ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.””While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.”When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”The short period Matzus is referring to is just a matter of three weeks. The recent aviation mishaps include:January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport and killed 67 peopleJanuary 31 – An air ambulance carrying a six-year-old girl and her mom crashed onto a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in totalFebruary 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injuredFebruary 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed and killed all 10 people on boardFebruary 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided into another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four othersFebruary 17 – A Delta plane crashed onto the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people.
The close calls are part of a disturbing trend of recent plane emergencies.
On January 29, a military helicopter and an American Airlines plane collided mid-air over the Potomac River at Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people.
Just days later, an air ambulance crashed onto a Philadelphia street, killing seven people.
On February 6, a commuter plane heading to Nome, Alaska, crashed, killing all 10 onboard.
An expert told The U.S. Sun the apparent uptick in crashes is the result of “random clustering.”
“Naturally, recent plane crashes such as the Delta plane flipping on landing in Toronto and the midair collision at Reagan National in DC, have raised public awareness and concerns about the safety of flying,” Jason Matzus, an attorney at Matzus Law, said.
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period.”
He and other aviation experts have stressed that air travel is still extremely safe.
“Air travel is statistically the safest form of travel and the spate of recent crashes isn’t necessarily indicative of an actual increase in frequency of plane crashes,” Matzus said.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13625087/southwest-plane-jet-chicago-airport-runway/