A plane landing in Mexico City almost crashed into a Delta Air Lines flight at Benito Juarez International Airport on Monday.

Aeromexico Flight 1631 flew over Delta Flight 590 and landed ahead of it just as the Delta flight was preparing for takeoff.

Newsweek has contacted the Mexican Aviation Authority for more information on the situation via email.

The Context

A rise in the number of plane crashes over the last year has led to increased scrutiny of airport activity.

On June 12, an Air India plane crashed soon after takeoff from Ahmedabad in India, killing 260 people—all except one of those on board and 19 on the ground.

On January 29, a commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided in Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Two days later, on January 31, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six people onboard and one person on the ground.

What To Know

Images from airspace watchdog FlightRadar24 shows the Aeromexico plane coming in to land on runway 5R, which should have been clear of all other planes. At one point, the Aeromexico and Delta aircraft were just 200 feet apart.

Pilots in the Delta plane immediately halted acceleration for their takeoff upon seeing "another aircraft landing in front of their aircraft on the same runway." The Delta jet had been traveling at 60 miles per hour before the pilots reacted.

In air traffic control recordings of the event, pilots in the Delta flight can be heard saying: "We are holding on the runway", before saying, "Wow" and "Increíble."

The plane then rerouted to its gate before taking off later on Monday.

A Delta Air Lines aircraft is seen at Cancun International Airport in Mexico on July 25, 2023. A Delta Air Lines aircraft is seen at Cancun International Airport in Mexico on July 25, 2023. Getty Images

The exact cause of incident has yet to be identified, though Mexican authorities have said they are investigating a potential communications failure.

According to reports from ABC, the control tower may have cleared the Delta fight for takeoff and the Aeromexico flight for landing at the same time, even though both processes require a clear runway.

What People Are Saying

Delta said in a statement : "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: "At Aeromexico, the safety of our customers and employees is, and will always be, our highest priority."

What Happens Next

Both airlines are cooperating with authorities to determine what happened.