Southwest jet passed less than 200 feet behind business jet in February near-miss

(Reuters) – A Southwest Airlines flight forced to abort a landing at Chicago Midway Airport on February 25 to narrowly avoid a collision with a business jet was less than 200 feet behind it, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday.

A FlexJet Challenger business jet entered the runway without authorization, prompting the Southwest Boeing 737-800 to perform a go-around, a maneuver in which the plane circled and reapproached the landing. The Southwest first officer saw the business jet and realized it was not stopping, called for a go-around and the captain executed it, the NTSB said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)