The pilot, Libertad Salmeron, has admitted in interviews that she did violate cockpit safety regulations, but insisted she asked her supervisor for permission to take the video and alerted her colleagues who were at risk of a runway collision at Benito Airport. Juarez that he was taxiing an aircraft on the tarmac where he was approaching to land second.
Mexican airline Volaris has fired the pilot who videotaped the May crash at the Mexican capital’s international airport for violating safety regulations by using a mobile phone when it wasn’t allowed, its management said Friday.
The pilot, Libertad Salmeron, has admitted in interviews that she did violate cockpit safety regulations, but insisted she asked her supervisor for permission to take the video and alerted her colleagues who were at risk of a runway collision at Benito Airport. Juarez that he was taxiing an aircraft on the tarmac where he was approaching to land second.
The video, which Ms Salmeron said she took as she waited to be cleared to taxi for take-off, showed a Volaris aircraft abruptly aborting its descent to avoid a collision with another from the same company.
Volaris “terminated the employment contract” with Ms. Salmeron because she did not “guarantee compliance” with strict safety rules in the cockpit, according to a press release from its management.
The rule at issue was that of excluding any distraction from the cockpit (sterile cabin, in industry slang). Pilots are only allowed to attend to their duties on the ground and below 10,000 feet, explained aviation industry analyst Jose Suarez. The purpose is to block their distraction, he explained.
However, Mr Suarez added that it was not uncommon for this regulation to be breached and that Ms Salmeron had applied the aircraft’s wheel brakes, meaning there was no danger.
Volaris was simply “looking for a reason to justify the dismissal of this pilot”, ruled Mr Suarez. “Yes, there is the issue of cockpit safety regulations, but the question is, is that why she lost her job?”
The union ASPA (Asociación Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores de México), which represents pilots at rival Aeroméxico, said in a press release it made public its “concern” about Ms Salmeron’s dismissal and said she had joined its ranks.
Aeromexico declined to confirm or deny that the pilot has joined its workforce.
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