Southwest Airlines flight abruptly rises to avoid another plane crossing Chicago runway

Southwest Airlines flight avoids runway collision with business jet at Chicago's Midway Airport, sparking FAA investigation.

Pilots on a Southwest Airlines flight attempting to land at Chicago's Midway Airport were forced to climb back into the sky to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway on Tuesday morning (February 25, 2025).

Airport webcam video posted to X shows the Southwest plane approaching a runway just before 9 a.m. Tuesday (February 25, 2025) before its nose abruptly pulls up. A smaller jet is seen crossing the runway that the passenger plane was set to use.

Southwest Flight 2504 safely landed “after the crew performed a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway,” an airline spokesperson said in an email. “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident.”

Audio recording of communication between the smaller jet and the control tower recorded its pilot misstating instructions from a ground tower employee, who repeated that the pilot should “hold short” of a runway. About 30 seconds later, the ground tower ordered the pilot “hold your position there.”

The tower employee is then heard saying: “FlexJet560, your instructions were to hold short of runway 31 center.”

Separately, a recording of communication between the Southwest crew and another ground tower employee captured its pilot reporting “Southwest 2504 going around” and following directions to climb back to 3,000 feet.

Seconds later, the audio captures the pilot asking the tower: “Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?”