‘Kind of crazy’: Concordia track athletes recount near miss on Southwest flight
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Concordia track and field team was on board a flight that nearly crashed in Chicago on Tuesday.
“We didn’t really realize how serious it was until the videos came out,” Liam Fagan said.
Fagan and his teammates said all was normal when their Southwest flight took off from Omaha’s Eppley Airfield in the morning.
The team was headed to Chicago to compete in the NAIA National Indoor Track & Field Championships.
But right as they were about to land, things took a turn.
“We saw the runway and everything, and right as you would feel the plane hit the ground, he just jerks the plane back up,” Fagan said.
SEE ALSO: Southwest flight from Omaha abruptly rises to avoid another plane crossing Chicago runway
A private business jet drove directly in the path of the Southwest flight.
The jet wasn’t authorized to be on that runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Southwest pilot pulled up at the last second, flying barely 250 feet above the jet.
The plane was able to safely land a few minutes later.
“It’s crazy to think that he probably did save our lives, or somebody’s lives for sure,” Justin Sherman said.
The athletes said the pilot made a short announcement apologizing for the delay, but he seemed calm.
So Sherman had no idea how close they were to crashing.
“I had absolutely no idea what was going on until an hour later probably,” he said. “One of our teammates comes by and holds up her phone and said, ‘Look at this.’ I was like, ‘That’s kind of crazy that that happened.’ And they were like, ‘That was our plane.'”
Fagan said the pilot’s ability to stay calm is likely what saved their lives.
“He reacted very quickly to the situation, and it’s pretty impressive,” he said. “Obviously he’s got all of our lives on board that he’s accounting for flying the plane, so for him to react that quickly and ultimately save probably a lot of lives, I think we’re all really grateful for that and blessed to be here.”
