A Southwest Airlines jet was forced to abort a landing at Chicago Midway Airport on Tuesday in a near-miss incident after a business jet entered the runway without authorisation, the Federal Aviation Administration has said.
The Boeing 737-800, arriving from Omaha, Nebraska, flew over a FlexJet Challenger that suddenly moved across its path on the runway. Video footage of the incident shows the nose of the airliner lifting back up as the wheels were about to touch the ground.
The FAA said it is investigating the incident, which occurred on Tuesday morning.
Southwest said the crew “followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident”.
The FAA said in October that it was opening an audit into runway incursion risks at the 45 busiest US airports.
On Monday, the authority said it was investigating another incident involving a possible close call in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, when the crew of Air Shuttle Flight 6034 aborted a landing due to an unstable approach and conflicted with a departing SkyWest Airlines flight. Air traffic control issued corrective instructions to both flight crews, but the Air Shuttle crew climbed above their assigned altitude.
These are the latest in a series of aviation incidents that have caused rising concern over safety.
Last month, a commercial jet collided with a military helicopter near Washington, killing all 67 people on both aircraft. Days later, a small plane carrying six people crashed near a shopping mall in Philadelphia, killing all aboard.
An AP-Norc poll released last week found that only 64 per cent of Americans believe air travel is very or somewhat safe – a 7 percentage-point decrease from last year.
