BRUSSELS – Aviation authorities are investigating a serious incident at Brussels Airport (BRU) after an SAS Scandinavian Airlines flight attempted to take off from a taxiway instead of its assigned runway on Thursday evening.
The Incident
At 21:03 UTC, SAS flight SK2590, bound for Copenhagen, was cleared for departure from Runway 07R. However, data from Flightradar24 indicates that the aircraft, an Airbus A320neo (registration SE-ROM), began its takeoff roll on a parallel taxiway instead of the active runway.
The aircraft reached a significant top speed of 107 knots (approximately 123 mph) before the crew identified the error and initiated an emergency abort. The plane came to a safe stop on the taxiway, and no injuries were reported among the passengers or crew.
Aftermath and Response
Following the high-speed abort, the flight was immediately cancelled. The aircraft returned to the terminal, and passengers were deplaned while maintenance teams inspected the jet’s braking system, which would have been subjected to extreme heat during the sudden stop.
Weather Conditions
The report from 20:50 UTC (just 14 minutes before the incident) was as follows:
EBBR 052050Z 10006KT 9999 BKN035 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG
- Wind: Coming from the East-Southeast at 6 knots.
- Visibility: Greater than 10 km (approx. 6 miles), which is considered “good” visibility for taxiing.
- Clouds: “Broken” (BKN) cloud layer at 3,500 feet. This means the sky was more than half covered by clouds, but they were high enough not to obstruct ground-level operations.
- Temperature: 7°C (45°F), with a dew point of 5°C.
- Pressure (QNH): 986 hPa, indicating a low-pressure system in the area.
- Trend: “NOSIG” (No Significant Change) expected in the next two hours.
Official Confirmation
An SAS spokesperson confirmed the incident late Thursday night, stating that the airline is cooperating fully with Belgian aviation authorities to determine how the aircraft lined up on the wrong strip of pavement.
“Safety is our absolute priority. We are currently conducting a thorough internal investigation alongside local authorities to understand the sequence of events,” the airline stated.
