Southwest flight cancels the runway of crew members who mistakenly think of Orlando taxi

David Shepards

Reuters – Southwest Airlines flights aborted its takeoff at Orlando Airport Thursday after it mistakenly started taking a taxi instead of a runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

An air traffic controller at Florida Airport canceled flight 3278 flights for Southwest flights around 9:30 a.m. after the plane began taking off on a taxi parallel to the runway.

Southwest said the plane stopped safely on the taxiway and no injuries were reported.

This is the latest in a series of events that raise concerns about American aviation safety. Southwest said it is engaged to the FAA to understand the event and to house customers on another plane to its destination.

The FAA said Wednesday it will install enhanced safety technology at 74 airports by the end of 2026 to help detect runway intrusions.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he plans to announce in the coming days a plan to overhaul the U.S. air traffic control system to replace aging technology.

The deadly Army helicopter and American Airlines regional jet crash killed 67 people near Reagan Washington National Airport on January 29, also rekindled concerns about aviation safety.

The FAA said in October it was reviewing the risk of runway intrusions at 45 of the United States’ busiest U.S. airports.

Over the past two years, a series of disturbing near-missing incidents have raised concerns about American aviation safety and under-manned operations.

The ongoing controller shortage delayed flights, and in many facilities, the controller worked for mandatory overtime and six days to make up for shifts.

(Reported by David Shepards; Editors by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)