Mexican airline Volaris fires pilot who recorded near-crash

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican airline Volaris fired a pilot who filmed two of the service’s planes practically crashing at Mexico Metropolis’s worldwide airport in Could, because the pilot broke airline guidelines by utilizing a telephone when she was not allowed to, Volaris mentioned on Friday.

The pilot, Libertad Salmeron, acknowledged in interviews that she broke the “sterile cabin” tips, however insisted she had requested her superior for permission to document the video and warned the pilots concerned within the near-crash that the runway at Benito Juarez Worldwide Airport was occupied.

The video, which Salmeron mentioned she recorded as she was ready on one runway to take off, exhibits a Volaris aircraft coming near touchdown on high of one other aircraft.

“Volaris ended its working relationship with First Official Salmeron for not guaranteeing the success of sterile cabin procedures and the… care of our purchasers,” the airline mentioned in an announcement.

Sterile cabin procedures apply to something beneath 10,000 ft, mentioned impartial aviation analyst Jose Suarez. Pilots are solely allowed to give attention to the duty at hand to restrict distractions, he mentioned.

Nevertheless, Suarez added the rule is regularly damaged, noting Salmeron had her aircraft’s brakes in place, which means she posed no danger.

Volaris “is on the lookout for a purpose to justify the firing of this pilot,” Suarez mentioned. “Sure, there’s the problem of ‘sterile cabin,’ however the actual query is, is that actually why she misplaced her job?”

Pilots union ASPA, which represents staff at rival airline Aeromexico, mentioned in an announcement it was “nervous” about Salmeron’s firing and that she had subsequently joined the union.

Aeromexico declined to substantiate whether or not Salmeron had since joined the corporate.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Modifying by Josie Kao)