Southwest plane nearly takes off from taxiway at Florida airport

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — 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, officials said.

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.

Taxiways are routes used by planes to move on the ground between gates, hangars and runways. Runways are the long, usually paved, areas of airports specifically meant for takeoffs and landings.

Southwest is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees,” the airline said in a statement.

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