Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Another close call reported in Mexico City air operations

Air traffic controllers for Mexico City have recorded another close call even as Mexican aviation authorities were scrambling to respond to reports from international pilot and airline groups of serious confusion in the skies over the capital

Via AP news wire
Monday 09 May 2022 21:22 BST
Mexico Airspace
Mexico Airspace (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Air traffic controllers recorded another close call in Mexico City flight operations even as Mexican aviation authorities were scrambling to respond to reports from international pilot and airline groups of serious confusion in the skies over the capital.

Government officials said a flight into Benito Juarez International Airport was given clearance to land on a runway where another airliner was about to take off Saturday night. It happened just hours after transportation officials established a working group to discuss an increase in dangerous incidents in Mexico City’s airspace.

The head of Mexican Airspace Navigation Services, which manages the country’s airspace, resigned in a letter dated Friday. Mexico’s Communications and Transportation Department, which includes that agency, initially denied knowing about at least 17 incidents of ground proximity warning system alerts for planes approaching the airport in the past year, confirming only one last year.

Last week, the International Air Transport Association, which represents some 290 airlines, wrote to the Mexican Airspace Navigation Services expressing concern about the close calls.

“As you know, these alarms, without the quick action of the flight crew, can lead to a scenario of controlled flight into terrain, CFIT, considered by the industry to be one of the highest risk indicators in operational safety, and with the highest accident rate, as well as fatalities,” the letter said.

The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations also issued a safety bulletin last week about such incidents. It suggested air traffic controllers had not been sufficiently trained for the reconfiguration of the capital’s airspace last year in advance of the opening of the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport north of Mexico’s capital in March.

Jose Alfredo Covarrubias, secretary general of the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, suggested Monday that officials at Mexican Airspace Navigation Services had been underreporting incidents in the capital’s airspace. The reconfigured airspace, he said, was leading to aborted takeoffs and landings and to planes flying too close to each other.

“It is definitely the bad, poorly done redesign,” Covarrubias said after a news conference. “There are areas where safety is not guaranteed.”

Víctor Hernández Sandoval, who quit Friday as head of the Mexican Airspace Navigation Services, made no mention of the problems in his resignation letter. He had led the agency since December 2018. In announcing an investigation into the latest close call at the airport, Transportation Undersecretary Rogelio Jiménez Pons said Hernández’s resignation was accepted.

Both aircraft involved in Saturday’s incident belonged to the Mexican airline Volaris.

Volaris chief executive Enrique Beltranena said via Twitter on Sunday: “Thanks to our pilots’ training and their impeccable following of procedures, no passenger or crew member was at risk.” He said he immediately called for an investigation by aviation authorities.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday that the problems would be addressed, but he also suggested they were being overblown and blamed it on the conservative opposition.

“Communication has been established since the weekend,” the president said. “Of course the problem needs to be addressed.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in