‘Two pilots from Southwest saved the day,’ aviation expert says of close call at Midway

A couple of seconds and a pair of “well-trained” pilots likely made the difference in saving lives and preventing catastrophe during last month’s near-collision between a Southwest Airlines jet and a business aircraft at Midway Airport.

The Southwest 737 plane arriving Feb. 25 from Omaha, Nebraska, was in its final stage of descent about 8:50 a.m. and almost touched down on the runway when the pilot of a Flexjet business aircraft appeared to misunderstand an air traffic controller’s instructions and crossed onto the runway in the Southwest flight’s path.

The Southwest pilots had to make a split-second decision to initiate a maneuver called a go-around, aborting the landing attempt and ascending back into the air to circle around and try again. Video of the incident appears to show the Southwest jet just feet from touching the ground before it lifts back up.

Dennis Tajer’s initial reaction upon seeing the video was, “Wow, that was close.”

Tajer, who has been a pilot for more than 35 years, is the spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association. He lauded the two Southwest pilots as “heroes” and said the flight could’ve ended in tragedy if the plane had touched down, making a go-around impossible.

“While go-arounds are a trained, not uncommon event, one that is this close to the runway we train to but is much more demanding because if the airplane touches down and goes into its landing rollout, the option to go around isn’t there,” Tajer said.

Executing a perfect go-around requires many steps taken in an exceedingly short amount of time. First, the pilot needs to commit to the maneuver without hesitation and immediately make the plane as aerodynamic as possible, said Eric Jones, a professor and associate dean for aviation initiatives at Lewis University in Romeoville.

“You’ve got to bring the landing gear up, clean up the flaps, bring them up to the stowed position and initiate enough power” and a consistent upward climb, “to get to an altitude that will allow you to initiate that approach again,” Jones said.

But that’s not the end of it. Air traffic controllers also play a vital role in a go-around, guiding pilots through re-entering the busy airspace in Chicago.

“They initiated a perfect go-around procedure,” Jones said.

The Southwest plane later landed at Midway safely and “without incident,” the airline said in a statement. No one was injured. A passenger who was on board the flight later told the Sun-Times she wasn’t aware that her fellow passengers were ever in peril until she saw video of the go-around when she landed in Dallas.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. A spokesperson for the NTSB said Friday there is “no new information to report at this time,” and “there should be” a preliminary report released about 30 days after the incident.

The incident at Midway came as investigators are looking into a string of safety incidents in recent weeks, including the deadly midair collision over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, a fatal medical jet crash in Philadelphia and a regional airline crash off the coast of Nome, Alaska, that killed 10 people. On Feb. 17, a Delta Air Lines jet overturned after landing in icy conditions at Toronto’s Pearson Airport that resulted in no deaths.

A day after the near-collision at Midway, President Donald Trump and NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy blamed the Flexjet pilots, suggesting they failed to follow an air traffic controller’s instructions to stop and not cross the runway.

A Flexjet spokesperson said the NTSB’s comments assigning blame were “premature.”

“We do not comment or speculate about any aspect of a safety investigation, especially in these very early stages, just as we expect all other professional organizations and agencies will do,” the Flexjet spokesperson said in a statement. “A genuine safety culture is one of continued learning to raise standards, and that is precisely what we are undertaking.”

Air traffic control on the ground instructed the Flexjet pilot to turn left on “Runway 4 left, cross Runway 31 left and hold short of Runway 31 center,” according to audio from LiveATC.net.

The pilot replied, “Alright, left on 2 — uh — 4 left, cross the 22, or 13 center, Flexjet 560.”

The air traffic controller immediately responded to the pilot, “Flexjet 560, negative. Cross 31 left, hold short Runway 31 center.”

The controller then told the Flexjet pilot to “hold your position” and “hold right there, don’t move.”

After the Southwest plane pulled up to avoid hitting the private jet and reached an altitude of 3,000 feet, the pilot asked, “Uh, how’d that happen?”

Tajer and Jones say it’s too early to know exactly how the near-collision happened.

“While we don’t know all the details from all sides, what we do know is that two pilots from Southwest saved the day,” Tajer said.

Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Jody Reven said the two pilots will “undoubtedly” be honored for their professionalism and composure in a challenging situation.

“Our pilots are humble professionals who train for moments like these but never seek the spotlight,” Reven said in a statement.

Go-arounds are rigorously practiced in simulators, and they’re one of the first maneuvers taught in the cockpit.

Once an approaching airplane descends below 10,000 feet, pilots are consistently examining the environment ahead to determine if it’s safe to land, Jones said. But there are numerous other reasons to conduct a go-around in addition to an obstruction on the runway.

“Are the winds a little bit squirrely? Is your left wing a little bit too low? Do you feel confident in being able to successfully execute that landing?” Jones said.

“If you’re ever in doubt, you can always initiate that go-around procedure and come back and try again,” he added. “Better to try again than to push a situation that might cause a loss to aircraft or, heaven forbid, people.”