Public records detail aviation close calls in Milwaukee, Chicago
Public records detail aviation close calls
Public records show at airports in Milwaukee and the Chicago area, there have been multiple "near mid-air collisions" and other "close calls" in recent years.
MILWAUKEE - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says 45,000 flights criss-cross the country every day. Before the collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter in Washington, D.C., the nation was in the middle of its longest streak – 15 years – without a major fatal airline crash. That is why aviation experts call it a remarkably safe system.
However, public records show at the three biggest airports in Milwaukee and northern Illinois, we came as close as a few feet to breaking that streak several times.
Sifting through public records
September 2017 incident:
A corporate pilot was taking off from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and gaining altitude when they noticed another plane at "12 o'clock" three to five miles away – and closing in on 500 feet above them. The pilot alerted air traffic control (ATC), which told them to keep climbing. But then, the plane's "Traffic Alert and Collision System" warned the pilot to "descend now" – and they did.
In a public record tied to this incident, the pilot wrote the following – had they followed the ATC's instructions: "We would have almost certainly collided or come extremely close to it."
Reports from MKE, ORD, MDW
What we know:
The FAA considers that 2017 incident a "near mid-air collision" – anytime two aircraft within 500 feet of each other in the air…could collide." That incident is just one of 38 safety reports that pilots, captains and air traffic controllers have filed over the last ten years at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
The records describe two near mid-air collisions and other concerns.
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Chicago's Midway International Airport saw three times as many reports – with 12 near mid-air collisions.
When FOX6 News reviewed Chicago O'Hare International Airport, one of the nation's busiest airports, the reports are staggering – and the issues were not just in the air.
"Close calls"
What we know:
FOX6 News found several close calls on the ground at O'Hare International Airport.
In August 2024, a captain saw a commercial jet in the middle of his plane's landing runway. He wrote, "If this is the new traffic pattern, I think it is trouble waiting to happen."
In April 2024, another captain said they "narrowly avoided" a collision for the second time that week when a company plane swerved off the taxi line, missing the nose of their plane by 15 feet.
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In December 2023, a captain blamed the air traffic controller for another missed collision while taxiing. They wrote that the process at O'Hare, especially during construction, is like "the wild, wild west."
Aviation Safety Reporting System
Dig deeper:
All the reports FOX6 News reviewed are filed within NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System. They are confidential, redacting specific flight and airline information; even the exact day the incident happened. They are also voluntary, which means there could be more incidents that have yet to be revealed.
DC plane crash LIVE updates: Recovery crews work in rain to recover remains
A midair collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said, as they search for answers in the nation's deadliest aviation disaster in nearly 25 years.
The Source: The information in this post was produced using reports from NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System.