Aeroflot A320 takes off from Oslo taxiway

[cja]

No doubt about that, but WHY did they take off from the taxiway? What did lead to that? What circumstances happened that they missed the runway and took off from the taxiway?
Investigations after such an event take a lot more into account than just the fact "they took off from the taxiway".

Wilco is correct there may be extenuating circumstances although they might be hard to imagine at this point in time.

They took off on a taxiway, that's exactly what happened. Stick a fork in them. Give them paper hats and name tags. Get them the hell out of the cockpit.

No doubt about that, but WHY did they take off from the taxiway? What did lead to that? What circumstances happened that they missed the runway and took off from the taxiway?
Investigations after such an event take a lot more into account than just the fact "they took off from the taxiway".

[Evan]

Maybe not only 100% the crews fault - who knows... I don't like to jump onto conclusions without knowing what exactly happened.

They took off on a taxiway, that's exactly what happened. Stick a fork in them. Give them paper hats and name tags. Get them the hell out of the cockpit.

If a crew gets fired for flying over their destination(Northwest Flight 18, then I think taking off or landing on a taxi way merits the same type of swift action.

We are talking about the same. I am saying as well that action need to be taken, but first wait and see what the report brings. Maybe some other reasons we don't know about lead to this as well. Maybe not only 100% the crews fault - who knows... I don't like to jump onto conclusions without knowing what exactly happened.

[VViscount]

Of course it is serious and a lot could've happened. And there will be investigation going on and there will be consequences as well once the reasons for this were found.

If a crew gets fired for flying over their destination(Northwest Flight 18, then I think taking off or landing on a taxi way merits the same type of swift action.

I personnaly think that taking off from a taxiway is an almost unforgivable error, especially when we're talking about a professional jet aircraft crew.
Just imagine what could happen if there was another aircraft or a ground object on that taxiway... a huge catastrophy.
Normaly the only explanation to this type of accidents is routine, but we can't put all the blame on routine.
Anyway investigators won't be tolerant at all this time, since it's the second taxiway takeoff in a period of 2 weeks! Damn!!

Of course it is serious and a lot could've happened. And there will be investigation going on and there will be consequences as well once the reasons for this were found.

[TUNISAIR745]

I personnaly think that taking off from a taxiway is an almost unforgivable error, especially when we're talking about a professional jet aircraft crew.
Just imagine what could happen if there was another aircraft or a ground object on that taxiway... a huge catastrophy.
Normaly the only explanation to this type of accidents is routine, but we can't put all the blame on routine.
Anyway investigators won't be tolerant at all this time, since it's the second taxiway takeoff in a period of 2 weeks! Damn!!

Hi Wilco,

Sure, we all make mistakes but here two crew and the relevant ATCO failed to notice that they lined up incorrectly. As you say, we should not speculate as to what caused these errors to occur.

cja,

indeed a lot seemed to went wrong that this has happened. I can only tell you from my own experience that things like that happen. no matter how many hours you have, how many people sitting in the cockpit. It is the well known cheesemodel. Many holes in the cheese lead to an accident and you need to be one to stop that...
When I read this, I am always happy that nothing serious has happened, nobody got killed or injured. Of course this needs to be investigated, no doubt. And I am sure it will. Same with the AMS case.

[cja]

Hi Wilco,

Sure, we all make mistakes but here two crew and the relevant ATCO failed to notice that they lined up incorrectly. As you say, we should not speculate as to what caused these errors to occur but it will be interesting to read the conclusions of the inquiry.

How do professionals mistake a taxiway for a runway?

Nobody is perfect and we are human beings and we make mistakes. I don't know the reason, usually runways are totally different marked than taxiways. I don't want to speculate, I am just glad that nothing has happened!

[Eric Diffoot]

Again? Geeze. Do I need to bring back what I posted in the KLM Amsterdam thread of how to determine if you're taking off from a taxiway versus a runway, most likely...they should fork themselves.

[cja]

Flight Global reports as follows:-

Aeroflot A320 takes off from Oslo taxiway
By David Kaminski-Morrow

Norwegian investigators have opened an inquiry after an Aeroflot Airbus A320 bound for Moscow Sheremetyevo took off from a taxiway at Oslo Gardermoen yesterday.
The aircraft, operating flight SU212 at 14:55, had been intending to depart from runway 01L.
But a spokesman for Gardermoen says that, at around 15:10, the aircraft turned right onto taxiway M, which runs parallel and immediately to the right of the runway, and took off.
While runway 01L is 3,600m (11,800ft) long, taxiway M is truncated with a length of about 2,400m.
A source familiar with the incident also indicates to ATI that the aircraft departed from the A3 intersection which would have reduced the available take-off distance to the north to just 1,650m.
Gardermoen's weather information at the time shows good visibility.

This follows a similar incident involving a KLM 737 at Schipol two weeks ago.

How do professionals mistake a taxiway for a runway?