Here is an aviation rarity: an incident where the scary part — a mechanical warning in flight — ended fine, and the embarrassing part happened on the ground, at walking pace.

On the evening of 28 July 2026, a Dassault Falcon 50 three-engine business jet landed safely at Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, Illinois, after its crew reported a cockpit warning. Then, while turning off the runway onto a taxiway, it simply rolled off the pavement — nose wheel and right main gear into the grass, right wingtip resting on the ground. Two people on board walked away unhurt. The airport had to shut down anyway.

The warning, then the taxiway

According to airport officials, the Falcon touched down on Runway 16 at about 5:27 p.m. Audio from the tower captured the crew telling controllers they had a mechanical issue warning in the cockpit before the jet came back around to land.

The landing itself was uneventful. The trouble came seconds later, when the jet turned onto the adjacent taxiway and its gear ran off the edge of the paving into the soft ground beside it, leaving the 18-tonne trijet stuck at an awkward angle with a wing on the deck.

Footage of the Falcon 50 off the taxiway at Chicago Executive.

A big deal for a small airport

Chicago Executive is one of the busiest general-aviation fields in the United States, but it is not a sprawling international hub — it has two runways, and a business jet blocking a taxiway is enough to stop everything. The airport closed to traffic while emergency crews responded; one runway reopened at 6:38 p.m., but full operations had to wait.

Because it is a reportable event, the aircraft could not simply be towed clear: airport officials said they were waiting on the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board before moving it. Both agencies are investigating, and the cause — the in-flight warning, the runway exit, or both — has not been established.

The happy ending is the headline: everyone got off safely. The rest is paperwork, a recovery crew, and a Falcon 50 that picked a very public spot to get stuck.

Sources: Chicago Executive Airport officials via NBC Chicago; Daily Herald; Journal & Topics; The Aviation Herald / aviation-safety.net (28 July 2026).