Jetliner aborts landing in Mexico to avoid another plane

By: 3 years ago

A Volaris airline plane sits on the tarmac at the Benito Juarez International airport, in Mexico City, on May 20, 2020, amid the new Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. AFP

MEXICO CITY—A jetliner attempting to land in Mexico City aborted its approach at the last second to avoid hitting a plane taxiing on the runway, an airline official said Sunday.

Video circulating on social media showed the near-miss involving two Airbus jets belonging to low-cost Mexican carrier Volaris Saturday night at Benito Juarez Airport, the busiest in Latin America.

The airline did not disclose the flight numbers, exact model of aircraft or how many passengers were aboard.

“Thanks to the training of our pilots … no passenger or crew member was at risk during the incident reported the night of May 7,” Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranea wrote on Twitter.

Mexican news organizations said Victor Hernandez Sandoval, a senior communications ministry official who redesigned air traffic patterns over the sprawling city so it could operate two airports, had tendered his resignation.

The video shows one plane about to land when it suddenly pulls up to avoid hitting the jetliner taxiing on the ground.

Because of saturation at the current facility, the previous government began construction of a second airport in Texcoco, a suburb of the city.

But President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador scrapped that plan after taking office in favor of turning an existing military base into an airport. It is now operating on a limited basis, with a few flights on mainly domestic routes.

Aviation experts have questioned the idea of operating two airports in a city surrounded by mountains and located 2,200 meters above sea level.

The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations last week said crews would face problems if the city’s air space pattern were changed to handle two full-sized airports.

Among other things, planes would spend a long time in holding patterns and land with little fuel, the federation said.

In May of 2021, the United States downgraded its air safety rating for Mexico City, citing what it called inadequate oversight.