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NTSB blames Southwest Chicago near miss on Flexjet crew 'failure' to listen to air traffic control
The harrowing near-miss between a Southwest Airlines plane and a private jet at a Chicago airport was a failure of the private jet crew to listen to air traffic control instructions, according to National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy.
Homendy made the statement during a Wednesday morning appearance on “Fox & Friends,” saying the Flexjet crew had been instructed to “line up and wait and hold short of runway 31C, which Southwest was landing on, and they failed to do so.”
Homendy noted, however, that the NTSB still has to conduct its investigation before coming to any final conclusions or taking any punitive action against the Flexjet crew.
“There’s a lot of information we still have to collect. We want to know what was going on in the cockpit of that airplane,” Homendy said. “We will collect air traffic control communications. We have asked for the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from Flexjet.”
DELTA FLIGHT FORCED TO RETURN TO ATLANTA AIRPORT AFTER ‘HAZE’ FILLS CABIN
The Southwest flight crew performed a go-around maneuver to avoid a possible incident with a private jet that crossed its path on the runway at Chicago Midway International Airport on Tuesday morning. (StreamTime Live)
President Donald Trump weighed in on the near crash on social media Wednesday, suggesting the Flexjet pilots may have been “sleeping.”
“GREAT JOB BY THE SOUTHWEST PILOTS IN CHICAGO. A NEARLY TRAGIC CLOSE CALL. PERHAPS SUSPEND THE PILOTS LICENSE OF THE OTHER PLANE, WHO MUST HAVE BEEN “SLEEPING!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Tuesday’s near-miss occurred when the Flexjet crossed the runway where a Southwest plane was coming in for landing. The Southwest craft had already touched down, but pilots observed the Flexjet and quickly took off once again to avoid a collision.
Duffy says the Flexjet crew may have their licenses revoked on Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a preliminary statement that the “business jet entered the runway without authorization.” The agency, as well as the NTSB, said they are investigating the incident.
“We are aware of the occurrence today in Chicago,” a Flexjet spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has pushed to modernize certain parts of America’s air traffic systems. (Getty Images)
Homendy emphasized that Americans should remain confident that air travel is still the safest means of transportation.
TORONTO PLANE CRASH TIMELINE: DELTA FLIGHT FROM MINNEAPOLIS FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND
The incident in Chicago comes after a series of aviation disasters across the country, several of them fatal.
Investigators search through wreckage in Washington, D.C. following a midair collision. (NTSB)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ramped up scrutiny on America’s air travel systems after a helicopter collided with a commercial airliner over Washington, D.C., killing more than 60 people.
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Less than 48 hours later, a medical ambulance flight crashed in Philadelphia, leaving seven people dead.
Last week, two small planes collided midair at a regional airport in Arizona, killing two people.
Dallas, TX
Study says the real value of a $100K salary in Dallas is…less than that
How much do you earn? And how far does that paycheck really go?
In Dallas, a $100,000 salary is a figure that’s more than double the area’s individual median income, but nevertheless a useful benchmark for the region’s burgeoning business community. However — once taxes and the local cost of living is factored in — it has the effective purchasing power of around $80,000 according to a new financial report.
Consumer-focused fintech site SmartAsset worked the numbers on the country’s 69 largest cities, determining the “estimated true value of $100,000 in annual income” in each location by measuring federal, state and local taxes as well as local cost of living data, including on housing, groceries and utilities.
It used its own proprietary figures, as well as information from the Council for Community and Economic Research.
Despite recent research suggesting North Texas has lately been losing some of its famous economic advantage — a major factor behind the region’s explosive growth — Dallas actually fared relatively well in SmartAsset’s analysis. Of the 69 cities, Dallas’ effective purchasing power, of $80,103 on the $100,000 salary, tied with Nashville to rank 22nd highest.
Like many cities in the report, Dallas also actually saw a year-over-year effective salary bump, likely because of slightly lower effective tax rates and living costs that have hewed closer to the national average. In 2024, the value of a $100,000 salary in Dallas came out to $77,197.
Other large Texas cities fared even better than Dallas. El Paso, where SmartAsset calculated the effective value of the $100,000 salary at nearly $90,300, ranked third highest overall.
San Antonio, where the effective value was around $86,400, ranked eighth. Houston, where the figure was around $84,800, ranked 10th, and Austin, where the figure was $82,400, ranked 17th.
Oklahoma City topped SmartAsset’s value ranking, with an effective salary of around $91,900, and Manhattan, which the website considered as its own city, came in with the lowest value, at around $29,400.
Dallas’ relatively strong effective value score won’t necessarily translate to the good life: Another financial report, published in November by the website Upgraded Points, determined that even a single adult with no kids needs a pre-tax salary of at least $107,000 to live “comfortably” in the Metroplex.
Miami, FL
Miami’s own Marcello Hernandez delivers special tribute to former teacher on SNL
NEW YORK CITY — Miami’s own Marcello Hernandez brought a piece of home to SNL for his latest performance, giving a tribute to his hometown and a special teacher in that classic Miami accent.
During his performance, Hernandez definitely brought the character of “Mr. Fronzi” to life.
The over-the-top teacher with a big heart was a character inspired by his real-life theology teacher at Miami-Dade’s private Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Angie Fernandez.
And Hernandez even flew her up to New York City to see the skit live in person.
“When I saw the skit, I was flabbergasted. I laughed from here to eternity. It was so good,” Fernandez said. “I am so honored that he chose to imitate me. That’s the best compliment you can give somebody!”
Fernandez said that while Hernandez drove her crazy in her classroom, he was also always humble, honest and she calls him one of her favorite students.
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Atlanta, GA
Man arrested for knocking kids off bicycles
A man was arrested at a concert last week after he shoved two kids off their bicycles, causing one of them to fall into a fountain, Sandy Springs police said. FOX 5 Atlanta’s Brittany Edney reporting.
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