Delta and Aeromexico jets nearly collide at Mexico City airport
FlightRadar24 data shows Aeromexico Flight 1631 flew over Delta Flight 590 on runway 5R at Mexico's Benito Juarez International Airport before proceeding to land ahead of it on the same runway. The two aircraft were just 200 feet apart, according to data from FlightRadar24.
Delta Air Lines said the Atlanta-bound flight with 150 people onboard was on its takeoff roll when the crew aborted after observing "another aircraft landing in front of their aircraft on the same runway."
Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Planes of Mexican airline Aeromexico taxi at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City, May 3, 2025.
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In air traffic control recordings, the Delta pilot can be heard saying, "We are holding on the runway" followed by someone saying, "Wow" and "Increíble." (Spanish for "incredible.") It is unclear if that was said by a nearby pilot or a controller.
The Delta plane had reached a speed of approximately 60 miles per hour before it stopped.
The Delta jet returned to its gate before finally departing to its destination later that morning.
"There are parallel runways at Mexico City. So we don't know if the controller told the Aeromexico aircraft to land on the left-hand and not the right-hand runway where the Delta jet was," said Steve Ganyard, an ABC News aviation contributor and former fighter pilot. "We also don't know, perhaps the tower controller didn't understand that they had cleared the Aeromexico aircraft to land while simultaneously clearing the Delta jet to take off."
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In a statement to ABC, Delta said, "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. We appreciate the flight crew's actions to maintain situational awareness and act quickly – part of Delta's extensive training."
Aeromexico said the airline is working closely with the authorities as they conduct a detailed investigation of the incident. "At Aeromexico, the safety of our customers and employees is, and will always be, our highest priority," the airline said in a statement.
As authorities investigate the incident, aviation experts say they will consider whether there was a communication failure.
"It seems pretty clear that there was a failure to communicate, either with the tower controllers clearing it to aircraft for takeoff at the same time they cleared one to land, or perhaps they weren't clear with a landing aircraft which runway -- left or right -- it should have been landing on," said Ganyard. "But somewhere it was a failure to communicate."
The Mexican Aviation Authority did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for a comment.
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