Officials say a Southwest Airlines flight almost took off from a taxiway — rather than a runway — at a central Florida airport on Thursday before an air traffic controller stopped the plane.

No injuries were reported, and passengers departing Orlando International Airport were accommodated on another aircraft heading to their destination of Albany, New York, the airline said in a statement. The aircraft was switched to help facilitate an investigation.

Southwest Flight 3278 had been cleared for takeoff and initiated a takeoff roll on a taxiway after the crew mistook the surface for the nearby runway, officials said. But air traffic controllers canceled the clearance before the plane could take off.

  • crusa187@lemmy.ml
    8·
    12 days ago

    Yes, there have been 20 deadly plane crashes in 2025, since the presidents started firing air traffic controllers because they were “too woke” or some such nonsense. Prior to this year, the most recent deadly crash involving a US airliner was in 2009.