A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 reached a top speed of around 70 knots as the pilots mistakenly started the takeoff roll on a taxiway at Orlando International Airport on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed.
Southwest flight WN-3278 to Albany was due to takeoff at around 9:25 am on March 20, but a quick thinking Air Traffic Controller in the tower at Orlando Airport managed to alert the pilots, who were able to perform an emergency stop on the taxiway.
Flight 3278 had been cleared for takeoff from Runway 17R, but the pilots initiated the takeoff roll from Taxiway H, which runs immediately parallel to the runway. Flight tracking data suggests the aircraft reached a top speed of 70 knots before the brakes were applied.
“An air traffic controller at Orlando International Airport canceled the takeoff clearance for Southwest Airlines Flight 3278 around 9:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, March 20, after the aircraft began its takeoff roll on a taxiway,” the FAA said in a statement posted to the agency’s website.
“The taxiway runs parallel to the runway,” the statement continued. The FAA said it would be investigating the incident.
Southwest Airlines said it was “engaged with the NTSB and FAA to understand the circumstances of the event.”
After coming to an emergency stop, the pilots taxied back to the gate where the passengers were deplaned and a replacement aircraft and crew were found to take them to Albany.
The flight eventually departed Orlando around three hours late on Sunday.
The incident comes just weeks after the pilots of a Southwest Airlines flight that was coming in to land at Chicago Midway Airport were forced to take evasive action and perform a last-second ‘go-around’ to avoid colliding with a private jet that taxied across the runway moments before the Boeing 737 was due to touchdown.
In the aftermath of the incident, the pilots of the private Flexjet aircraft received a rebuke from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who warned that pilots who made errors were at risk of having their certificates pulled by the FAA.
Southwest Airlines faced an FAA probe last year following a series of mishaps involving the Dallas-based carrier, including an incident in which a plane took off from a closed runway at Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine, narrowly missing an airport ground vehicle that was carrying out an inspection of the runway.
In another incident, a Southwest Boeing 737 buzzed over an Oklahoma suburb after descending to just 3,000 feet while still nine miles away from Oklahoma City Airport.
The FAA ultimately closed the probe, concluding that there were no serious safety issues at the airline.
