‘How’d that happen?’: Moment US jet attempting to land nearly collides with plane

Alarming footage has captured the moment a passenger plane was forced to quickly abort landing to avoid colliding with a private jet.

A passenger plane was forced to abort landing to narrowly avoid a collision with a private jet in the US.

Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 was coming into land at Chicago Midway International Airport on Tuesday morning, US time, before it was forced to quickly pull back up into the air as the private jet rolled across its path.

Alarming footage shows the plane coming within feet of touching down before pulling up sharply as the private Challenger 350 jet moved onto the runway.

Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 came within feet of touching down. Picture: CNN

The plane was forced to pull back up into the air after the private jet rolled across its runway. Picture: CNN

The Southwest plane, a Boeing 737 which was travelling to Chicago from Omaha, Nebraska, managed to land safely after avoiding the “possible conflict”, a Southwest spokesperson told CNN.

“The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident,” the spokesperson said.

“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”

Data from FlightAware showed the plane circled the airport before landing 10 minutes later.

Audio from LiveATC.net, reveals the moment air traffic control instructed the private jet, which was headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, to turn left on “Runway 4L, cross Runway 31L and hold short of Runway 31C.”

“Alright, left on 2 – uh – 4L, cross the 22, or 13C, Flexjet 560,” the pilot replied.

The air traffic controller then responded: “Flexjet 560, negative! Cross 31L, hold short Runway 31C.”

The plane, which was travelling to Chicago from Omaha, Nebraska, managed to land safely. Picture: CNN

After the plane returned to the air, the pilot was heard asking the tower: “Southwest 2504, uh, how’d that happen?”.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

A Flexjet spokesperson said in a statement Flexjet was “aware of the occurrence” in Chicago.

“Flexjet adheres to the highest safety standards and we are conducting a thorough investigation. Any action to rectify and ensure the highest safety standards will be taken,” the statement read.

It comes as a spate of airline accidents have grabbed headlines in recent weeks.

In late January, 67 people were killed after a US Army helicopter collided with a landing American Airlines plane near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC.

Days later, seven people were killed and dozens injured when an ambulance jet dropped from the sky and exploded in a ball of fire on a busy Philadelphia street.

And just last week, passengers on a Delta Airlines flight narrowly avoided death when their plane crash landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on February 17 – a crash which left the plane upside down and engulfed in flames.

– With the New York Post