Another Delta near-miss at Mexico City airport
Two airplanes avoided catastrophe on a Mexico City runway on Monday when one of the planes landed ahead an aircraft that was prepping for takeoff. The near-miss incident took place at Benito Juárez International Airport at 7:28 am as Delta Flight 590 bound for Atlanta was advancing down runway 5R.
Flight tracking website Flightradar 24 showed Aeroméxico Connect Flight 1631 appearing out of nowhere and flying less than 200 feet over the Delta Boeing 737. The Aeroméxico Embraer 190 jet then landed in front of the Delta plane, which was carrying 144 passengers and six crew members.
The Delta flight came to a full stop on the runway and returned to the gate. It did not depart until 9:42 am and landed at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport at 3:20 pm.
The Atlanta-based air carrier filed a report about the near-collision to Mexican aviation authorities as well as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
'Because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, Delta will fully cooperate with authorities as the circumstances around this flight are investigated,' an airline spokesperson said in statement. 'We appreciate the flight crew's actions to maintain situational awareness and act quickly – part of Delta's extensive training.'
The incident comes just days after a SkyWest Airlines plane, that was operating as a Delta connection flight from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota almost crashed mid-air with a U.S. Air Force jet. SkyWest Flight 3788 had to swerve away from the B-52 bomber that was conducting a programmed flyover in
The SkyWest pilot reportedly said the incident caught him by surprise, prompting him to make an aggressive move to avoid a possible collision, according to a video recording posted by a passenger on social media.
Representative Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, said she was highly concerned with the incident. 'The incident in Minot raises serious questions about passenger safety,' McCollum said.
'Given the Department of Defense training that takes place in the surrounding area, Minot International Airport must also immediately receive and install radar technology to have a full accounting of all local air traffic.' Last Thursday, a Delta Airlines plane almost collided with a smaller aircraft that crossed its path in Tennessee.
Flight 2724 - a packed Airbus A321 - was cleared for takeoff from Nashville International Airport, bound for Minneapolis-St. Paul when the pilot hit the breaks and avoided what could have been a fatal collision with a single-engine plane.
