Thursday, July 10, 2025

Architect confirms new airport’s control tower has a slight lean, but not like Tower of Pisa

An architect has responded to a viral photograph of the control tower leaning slightly to one side at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), near Mexico City. Social media users compared the tilted control tower to Italy’s famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Alex Belfort posted on Twitter to say the 88-meter tower had an inclination of 18 centimeters at its highest point, calculated “with topographic measuring instruments,” and assured that “inspection and control work must be carried out to do any work of that type.”

He argued that it was normal for such constructions due to “the building exerting pressure on the ground.”

“It is not necessary for construction of this type to be perfectly vertical … 18 centimeters of inclination is still within a normal safe range,” he added.

The viral photos were addressed in the president’s morning news conference Wednesday in the “Who’s who in the lies of the week” section, and said to be false.

Ana Elizabeth García Vilchis, who presents the segment, said the “published photos were taken from an angle which produces a visual effect.”

“The commander of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport informed that the images put on social media are manipulated to make it look as though there is a lean … its verticality was tested … after the earthquake on September 7 to check if the tower suffered any damage,” she added.

She named several media organizations that had published the “manipulated” photos.

She said there was no inclination in the tower.

With reports from Infobae

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A small plane flies over the ocean

How the Mexican security minister’s slip of the tongue rankled Salvadoran President Bukele

0
President Bukele took exception after García Harfuch's identified a drug-smuggling plane as coming from El Salvador.
gold bars

Highway robbery near Guadalajara nets 6 million pesos worth of gold and silver

0
Such open-road heists have risen in frequency recently and could pose a threat to potential investors otherwise attracted by nearshoring opportunities.
Security chief Omar García Harfuch, Attorney General Gertz and other Mexian officials sit on a stage in front of a banner reading "National Strategy against Extortion" in spanish

Authorities launch national strategy against extortion to tackle a pernicious and widespread crime

1
The strategy contemplates new laws that would force states to investigate the crime, even when victims are too afraid to make an official report.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity