An airport maintenance worker driving an SUV was supposed to be helping crews plow snow from a closed runway when he entered onto 24L without permission from air traffic control -- ignoring a series of lights and barriers indicating that the runway was active, Szabo said. An aircraft was departing and had just lifted off when the SUV passed beneath. It's unclear whether that was the flight that took off over the SUV. In ATC recordings, a controller can be heard abruptly ordering the driver to stop. Another voice can be heard asking what happened, and the controller responds, "He just crossed the runway, and an aircraft was taking off." Also heard in the recording was SWA 1555 being cleared to land 24L, but then given instructions to go around.

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