A passenger plane had to abort its landing maneuver to avoid hitting a taxi on the tarmac at Mexico City’s airport on Saturday, according to videos of the accident released by local media and information on the airlines involved.
“It is an incident that we cannot allow…they are very worrying events that we must consider,” Transportation Undersecretary Rogelio Jimenez Ponce told Milenio TV, announcing that Director of Navigation Services Victor Hernández Sandoval had submitted his resignation.
In two videos published by local media, a passenger plane was seen about to land, but suddenly resumed its flight while another plane continued to walk on the runway.
“Thanks to the training of our pilots (…) no passenger or crew member was in danger during the reported situation at #AICM (Capital Airport) on the night of May 7,” Enrique Beltranina, Director of the Civil Aviation Office, said on Twitter. The airline Volaris to which the aircraft in question belongs.
The accident occurred at Benito Juarez Airport, the busiest in Latin America, with 36 million passengers in 2021.
Victor Hernandez Sandoval has been tasked with redesigning the capital’s airspace to allow the operation of two airports in Mexico City, despite criticism from experts over the complexities of operating two airports in a city surrounded by mountains and more than 2,200 meters above sea level.
The incident came after the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) on Thursday reported problems that crews might encounter as a result of repairing the airspace over Mexico City to ensure the operation of another airport, Los Felipe Airport.
IFALPA specifically notes that planes are now subject to long hold modes, forcing them to land with little fuel.
Faced with the saturation of Benito Juarez airport, the former Mexican government decided to build a new airport in Texcoco, a suburb of the capital.
But President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador scrapped the project and launched his plan to convert a military base into an airport, drawing criticism from investors and opponents.
In May 2021, the United States lowered Mexico City’s aviation safety rating, due to a lack of proper oversight.
