SAS plane nearly took off from wrong runway, ended up in the grass

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SAS plane nearly took off from wrong runway, ended up in the grass
Photo: Anders Humlebo/TT

"A SAS flight was forced to swerve and ended up in the grass after the aircraft tried to take off from a so-called taxiway. I think the staff were also quite shocked," a passenger tells Expressen.

The incident occurred while the aircraft was en route from Brussels to Copenhagen on Thursday evening. According to Flightradar24, the aircraft reached speeds of almost 200 kilometers per hour before braking sharply.

When we had gained enough speed to take off, the brakes were applied, all the flaps on the wings were opened and the engines were put into reverse so that everything shook, passenger Anders Bork Hansen tells Danish TV2.

Could go wrong

Aviation journalist Christer Åström says there are many risks in trying to take off from a taxiway: among other things, they are narrower than main runways and can also be angled.

It's clear that it's life-threatening; you can encounter other aircraft that are also on a taxiway. It is only by chance that nothing really serious happens.

SAS confirms that the flight to Copenhagen in question was cancelled following an "irregularity". SAS has launched an internal investigation into the incident.

"Before it is ready, we cannot speculate," says SAS's head of communications, Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji.

According to a passenger interviewed by Expressen, it took a while before those on board received any information about the incident.

"Then they said they had made a mistake but had not received any guidance from the air traffic control tower. They should have seen that they were taxiing on the wrong runway," the passenger tells Expressen.

No one injured

Christer Åström says that the air traffic control towers do not always have oversight of the entire area.

There are blind spots where you can't see the entire taxiway system.

According to SAS, neither passengers, crew nor the aircraft were injured in connection with the incident.

"It's unfortunate that you couldn't get home as planned, but the only effect on the passengers is that they had to fly home today instead of yesterday," says Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji.

The taxiway is used by aircraft to move around the airport, for example between the runway and the gate.

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By TT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

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