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A commercial plane had to abort the landing to avoid hitting another plane that was on the runway at the airport in Mexico City Saturday night, according to videos of the incident released by local media and reports from the airline involved.
“Thanks to the training of our pilots (…) no passenger or crew member was at risk during the situation reported at the #AICM (capital airport) on the night of May 7 “wrote on Twitter Enrique Beltranena, director of the Volaris airlineto which the aircraft involved belong.
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After what happened, according to the local press, Víctor Hernández Sandoval, director of Navigation Services and who redesigned the airspace of the capital to allow the operation of two airports in the megacity, would have submitted his resignation.
The Mexican press reproduces an image of the supposed letter in which Hernández Sandoval presents his resignation “irrevocably” as of May 9, but without detailing the reasons.
The incident occurred at the airport Benito Juarezthe busiest in Latin America with a record movement of 50.3 million passengers in 2019 and 36 million in 2021.
In two videos reproduced by local media, the passenger aircraft is seen about to land, but suddenly resumes flight while another aircraft continued to roll on the runway.
This incident occurs after last Thursday the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) pointed out alleged problems that the crews would face as a result of the redesign of the airspace so that another airport, Felipe Ángeles, would operate.
IFALPA points out that the planes would have long waiting patterns, causing them to land with little fuel, and activation of the GPWS alert, a system that warns that the aircraft is very close to mountains.
But the Communications Secretariat assured on Friday that it had no reports of such situations and on Saturday it met with ASPA, the largest pilot union and which is affiliated with IFALPA, to review air safety measures.
Given the saturation of Benito Juarezthe previous government was building a new HUB-type airport in Texcoco, a suburb of the capital.
But President Andrés Manuel López Obrador canceled that project and launched his plan to convert a military base into an airport, sparking criticism from investors and opponents.
Aviation experts have pointed out the complications of operating two airports in a city surrounded by mountains and more than 2,200 meters above sea level.
In May 2021, the United States downgraded Mexico’s air safety rating on the grounds that it lacks adequate air safety oversight.
Source: Elcomercio
