VIDEO: Two airplanes almost collide at Mexico City airport

Two airplanes were about to collide at Mexico City International Airport (AICM). According to press reports, a controller had authorized one of the planes to land on the runway where another plane was ready to take off.

The incident did not escalate due to the maneuvers performed by both pilots. A video of the near-crash was shared on social media, apparently recorded inside the cabin of a third aircraft waiting to enter the runway for takeoff.

@chris.jimenezg Caos en el aeropuerto de Ciudad de México (AICM) pudo haber terminado en tragedia 😣✈️ pero los pilotos vieron al tráfico que se encontraba en pista y se fueron al aire !! Estuvo muy cerca !! Créditos a la capi de viva por su video y a skyline coffe por esas benditas cámaras a la pistas ✈️✈️✈️ #incidente #aviacion #AICM #MEXICO #ciudaddemexico #aeropuerto #aviacion ♬ sonido original - Chris Jimenez

🔴⚡ Un nuevo video en poder de @diario24horas revela el riesgo de colisión 💥 que se registró entre 2 aviones de #Volaris ✈️ cuando la Torre de Control del @AICM_mx autorizó el aterrizaje en una pista donde otra aeronave se preparaba para despegar.https://t.co/qDclfEpmFy pic.twitter.com/y47r7xPVs2

— @diario24horas (@diario24horas) May 9, 2022

Mexico's Undersecretary of Transportation, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, claimed that the aircraft involved in the incident were N545VL (Airbus A320) flight VOC 4069 headed to Guatemala, while the aircraft entering runway 05 was XA-VRV (Airbus A320) flight VOI 799, coming from Mazatlán.

The official said in a press release that the investigation protocols provided by regulations were applied to the approach incident. In addition, in order to contribute to the clarification of the case, the head of Navigation Services in the Mexican Airspace (SENEAM), Víctor Hernández Sandoval, resigned. 

On Sunday, Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranena said that no passengers or crew members were at risk following the incident.

"Teams, crews and warning systems prepare daily to deal with similar situations that are not dependent on airlines, and that can happen in aviation," he added in a message posted on Twitter.

Gracias al entrenamiento de nuestros pilotos y a su impecable seguimiento de los procesos, ningún pasajero o tripulante estuvo en riesgo durante la situación reportada en el #AICM la noche del 7 de mayo. (1/3)

— Enrique Beltranena (@kikebeltranena) May 8, 2022

SENEAM was the agency in charge of redesigning the country’s airspace, ensuring a safe air traffic flow between the Felipe Angeles and Mexico City airports.

However, since the airspace was redesigned in March 2021, aircrews and air traffic controllers have reported several serious incidents, such as the activation of collision warnings and increasingly frequent go-around events, among others, reported El Financiero.

Mexican authorities have denied the increase in airspace risks in the Valley of Mexico.