Being interested in aviation safety, I have listened to a number of cockpit voice recordings during the past fifteen years, but this one is the worst of all.

Western 2605 was lost on 31 Oct 1979 while approaching Mexico City Intl. (now known as Benito Juárez Intl.). Approaching at night, and with visibility highly reduced by fog, the DC-10 touched down left of runway 23 Right, the left main gear ending in the grass. The flight crew set the throttle to go-around correctly, but at the time the nose was already elevated to 10-11 degrees, the right main gear impacted a truck which was on the runway. The gear tore off under the impact's force, and impacted the right horizontal stabilizer. Naturally, the DC-10 leaned to the right, but soon the left wing impacted an excavator. Western 2605 became out of control and ended up crashing into a building, exploding on impact. In facts, the flight crew approached and landed on the wrong runway: the 23 Left.

At the end, 72 on 88 occupants died, as well as one ground casualty. 40 years later, the causes of flight 2605's loss are still a hot topic. The official report from the Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil blamed the flight crew and its lack of performance, while the International Air Line Pilots Association highlighted the lack of information available to pilots, as well as the lack of preventive information from the air traffic control.