ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Southwest Airline flights mostly took off from a taxiway rather than an runway at Florida Central Airport Thursday before air traffic controllers stopped the plane, officials said.
No injuries were reported, and passengers departing from Orlando International Airport were housed on another plane heading to their destination in Albany, New York, the airline said in a statement. The aircraft were switched to facilitate investigations.
The Southwest Flight 3278 was cleared for takeoff and began taking off rolls on the taxiway after crew mistaken the surface for a nearby runway, officials said. However, the air traffic controller cancelled the clearance before the plane took off.
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Taxi is the route used by planes to move to the ground between gates, hangars and runways. Runways are usually long, paved airport areas, particularly for takeoff and landing.
Southwest works with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
“There’s nothing more important to the Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees,” the airline said in a statement.
