Mexico probes near-collision of planes on airport runway

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday an incident at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) was being investigated, after a video reportedly taken over the weekend showed a plane almost landing on an already-occupied runway. Concerns over reports of a number of recent incidents prompted Rogelio Jimenez Pons, deputy transport minister, to propose a halt of operations at the nearby newly-built Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) as a temporary solution. "If the investigation tells us to do that (stop operations at AIFA), we will do so. Security is above any other type of interest," he said. Video of the weekend incident appeared to show two jets from Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris nearly colliding. It surfaced online days after a report from an international pilots association cited "several" safety concerns in the capital's air space. Volaris shares fell nearly 8% on Monday. On Sunday, the carrier's chief executive, Enrique Beltranena, said on Twitter he had called for internal and external investigations. "Thanks to the training of our pilots and their impeccable monitoring of the processes, no passenger or crew member was at risk during the situation reported at the AICM the night of May 7," Beltranena said. Lopez Obrador called for a meeting to "put the airspace in order" and said the director of the Navigation Services in the Mexican Air Space (SENEAM), Victor Hernandez, had resigned. Jose Alfredo Covarruvias, general secretary of Mexico's Air Traffic Controllers Union, said the union had sent around 30 reports of safety incidents to the federal civil aviation agency. "We've got to see what factors led to this error, to make sure above all that it doesn't happen again," said Covarruvias, who also welcomed the investigation and Hernandez's resignation. "If it happens again, it's not an accident," he added.<br/>