Planes Nearly Collide On Mexico City Runway In Frightening Close Call

Last Updated:July 23, 2025, 17:02 IST

Pilots halted Delta flight moments before takeoff in Mexico City as AeroMéxico jet unexpectedly touched down ahead.

Less than 200 feet separated the two jets during the near-miss at Benito Juárez Airport. (IMAGE: AI GENERATED/DALLE 3)

Two planes almost collided on the runway in Mexico City on Monday when an AeroMéxico regional jet about to land flew over and touched down in front of Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 jet that had begun taking off.

The incident happened on the runway of the Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez where Delta Flight 590 was starting to roll down with 144 customers and six crew members on board. The passengers and the crew suddenly spotted another plane land directly in front of it, the airlines said in a statement.

Flightradar 24, the flight tracking website, showed in a rendering of the incident via a video shot on aviation radar view. It showed that the AeroMéxico Connect flight 1631, an Embraer 190 regional jet, flew less than 200 feet over the moving Delta plane then landed in front of them on runway 5R.

The journey for the Delta passengers commenced three hours later as pilots immediately stopped the takeoff and returned to the terminal following the incident.

Delta, in a statement, said that it reported the incident to Mexican aviation authorities, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States.

“Delta will fully cooperate with authorities as the circumstances around this flight are investigated," the airline said in a statement. “We appreciate the flight crew’s actions to maintain situational awareness and act quickly – part of Delta’s extensive training."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded Mexico’s aviation safety rating in May 2021, citing its failure to meet minimum international safety standards. The top-tier Category 1 status was reinstated in September 2023, after the FAA provided technical assistance to help address and resolve the issues that led to the downgrade.

Aviation incidents continue to make global headlines, with another close call emerging from US skies. Aviation regulators said Monday they are investigating a near-miss between a Delta flight operated by SkyWest and a US military B-52 bomber over Minot, North Dakota. The commercial pilot was forced to take emergency action, telling passengers, “This is not normal at all," after spotting the bomber approach from the right. The FAA and SkyWest have launched probes into the July 18 incident.

Mexico City, Mexico

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