Plane nearly lands on runway as another flight departs JFK

Authorities say a Mexico-based airline's passenger jet mistakenly lined up to land on a New York City airport runway as another plane was about to take off.

The Federal Aviation Administration says Volaris Airlines Flight 880 from Mexico City was approaching Kennedy International Airport around 1:25 p.m. Tuesday when an air traffic controller told the crew not to land.

The FAA says the Airbus A319 re-entered the flight traffic pattern and landed safely on the correct runway.

The plane that was already rolling down the runway as the Volaris flight approached was Delta Flight 4231, operated by Delta Connection carrier Republic Airline. A Republic spokesman says the crew safely halted its takeoff and later completed its flight to Washington.

It's not clear how close the planes were to each other.