A Delta flight had just begun its takeoff roll at Benito Juárez Mexico City International Airport when a regional jet appeared to fly over the plane and land in front of it on the same runway, forcing the Delta pilots to hit the brakes.
Aeromexico Flight 1691, arriving from the city of Aguascalientes, touched down on Monday as Atlanta-bound Delta flight 590 was accelerating to initiate takeoff at 7:28 a.m. local time, according to Delta and preliminary flight data from the tracking site Flightradar24. The data shows that the Delta Boeing 737-800 reached 62 knots, or about 71 miles per hour, before pilots stopped the plane and halted their takeoff.
The Delta pilots exited the runway and returned to the gate, the airline said. The plane received additional fuel and eventually departed for Atlanta at 9:42 a.m. The flight carrying 144 passengers and six crew members landed safely in Atlanta at 3:20 p.m. ET, according to Delta.
"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," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News.
In the wake of the incident, Delta says it filed reports with the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and Mexico's Federal Civil Aviation Agency, which is the country's aviation regulator.
Aeromexico said it is working closely with the corresponding authorities to conduct an investigation. "At Aeromexico, the safety of our customers and employees is, and will always be, our highest priority," the airline's statement said.
Mexican aviation authorities had no comment when contacted by CBS News on Tuesday.
Days before the incident in Mexico, the pilot of a SkyWest flight — which was operating as Delta Connection — apologized to passengers after performing what he described as an "aggressive maneuver" while approaching a runway in Minot, North Dakota, where the plane was set for landing. The pilot said he had performed the maneuver to avoid a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber that appeared to be flying along "a converging course" with his plane.
The Air Force says its flight crew was in communication with air traffic control but was not told about the airliner.
SkyWest said the flight, from Minneapolis, had 76 passengers and four crew members on board.
The airline and the FAA are investigating the incident.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Kris Van Cleave is the senior transportation correspondent for CBS News based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also serves as a national correspondent reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.
