Passenger Jet Carrying 165 People Aborts Takeoff at 123mph After Pilot Mixes Up Taxiway with Runway

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Scandinavian Airlines’ flight at Brussels Airport was canceled on Thursday evening, February 5.

• This incident occurred after the pilot aborted the takeoff after starting procedures on a taxiway rather than one of the airport runways.

• Scandinavian Airlines said it was “conducting a comprehensive internal investigation with local authorities to understand the sequence of events,” according to Air Live.

A Scandinavian Airlines flight was canceled after the pilot of the plane took off from the taxiway instead of the runway.

The incident occurred at Brussels Airport on the evening of Thursday, February 5, and affected SAS flight SK2590 bound for Copenhagen. Aerospace Global News, Live broadcast And Aviation Reporter.

The aircraft, an Airbus A320neo with 165 people on board, was allowed to take off from Runway 07L, one of the main runways at the airport, but ended up on a parallel taxiway, according to outlets.

While on the parallel taxiway, the aircraft began takeoff procedures but aborted the takeoff when the aircraft reached a speed of approximately 123 mph (107 knots above ground), Air Live and reporter reported by quoting data flight radar24. Footage of the flight path shared by Flightradar24 shows the plane stopping near the runway before returning to its original takeoff position at the airport.

reporter It was reported that the pilot noticed the error at the point where the taxiway strip narrowed and the pilot managed to stop the plane before the taxiway intersection and just short of the airport’s fuel depots.

According to Air Live, emergency services responded to the scene and while the passengers on the plane landed on the taxiway, maintenance personnel examined the plane’s braking system, which would have been exposed to overheating during the sudden stop.

Passengers were transported back to the terminal. According to sources, no injuries were reported. The flight was canceled after the incident.

PEOPLE has reached out to Scandinavian Airlines for comment on the incident.

Simon Berneblad Mandegård, one of the passengers on the plane, described the incident as “a very dramatic moment”. Daily Mail.

“We taxied normally, lined up and suddenly started accelerating like a normal take-off, but after gaining quite a lot of speed it became clear something was clearly not right,” he recalled. “The pilot suddenly applied the brakes extremely hard and the entire cabin immediately felt the force.”

“There was a sharp maneuver to keep the aircraft on the tarmac and you could feel how close we were to running out of space,” he added. ‘Thankfully everyone was safe but this was definitely one of the most intense situations I’ve ever experienced on a plane.’

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According to Aerospace Global News, operations at Brussels Airport continued normally following the incident.

A spokesperson for Scandinavian Airlines told Air Live that the airline is cooperating fully with Belgian aviation authorities to determine how the incident occurred and that they plan to conduct an “internal investigation” into the matter.

“Safety is our absolute priority,” the airline said in a statement to Air Live. “We are currently conducting a comprehensive internal investigation with local authorities to understand the sequence of events.”

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