NARROW ESCAPE

Florida Airport Avoids Disaster After Plane Attempts Takeoff on Taxiway

The flight was halted by air traffic control at the last second.

A Southwest Airlines flight in Florida narrowly avoided disaster on Thursday after it attempted to take off from a taxiway rather than a runway. The flight, bound for Albany, New York, from Orlando International Airport, had been cleared for takeoff and started to undergo preliminary measures after crew members mistook the taxi surface for the nearby runway, the airline said in a statement. But they were stopped at the last minute after air traffic control intervened. Passengers were made to evacuate the flight while an investigation took place, and Southwest Airlines has announced they are working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to discern what happened. No injuries were reported, and all passengers onboard the botched flight were unharmed by the incident, officials confirmed. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees,” they added.