A Southwest Airlines 737 landing at Chicago Midway International Airport was forced to perform a go-around after a Flexjet Challenger 350 crossed the active runway without permission.
On February 25, 2025, Southwest Airlines flight 2504 was performing scheduled service from Omaha (OMA) to Chicago (MDW) with a Boeing 737-800 registered N8517F. The aircraft was cleared to land on runway 31 Center, but went around on the last minute after Flexjet Challenger 350, registered N560FX, crossed the same runway without permission.
The air traffic controller instructed the pilots of Flexjet flight 560 to taxi via runway 4 Left and hold short of runway 31 Center. Initially they incorrectly read back the instructions to âcrossâ runway 31 Center, but were corrected and told once again âhold shortâ.
Even after being reminded to hold short, they crossed the active landing runway without receiving further clearance. In the diagram, the Southwest pilots were landing on the highlighted green runway. Flexjet’s initial taxi path is shown in red with the circle showing the point of conflict.
The Southwest aircraft was forced to go around, and safely landed minutes after. The Flexjet pilots safely departed for Knoxville (TYS), but not after being noted for a possible pilot deviation.
In a statement to media, Southwest Airlines said, “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
Featured image: TomĂĄs Del Coro/Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic
