Here’s a shocking incident that ended up being a very close call, as flagged by The Aviation Herald…
In this post:
Boeing 747’s Riyadh Airport taxiway attempt
This happened on Monday, April 22, 2024, and involves a 29-year-old Boeing 747-400 with the registration code 9H-AKF. This was a freighter flight that was scheduled to operate from Riyadh (RUH) to Nairobi (NBO). The aircraft is owned by Air Atlanta Europe Malta, though is currently leased by Saudi Arabian Airlines.
At 12:37AM local time, the jet was cleared to take off on runway 33R, which has a length of 13,796 feet (4,205 meters). However, for whatever reason, the pilots instead attempted to take off from taxiway K, which is parallel to the runway. This taxiway has a length of only 4,880 feet (1,490 meters).
The pilots seemingly didn’t realize their error, as the jet accelerated all the way to a speed of 110 knots, which is nearly two-thirds of the aircraft’s takeoff speed. Once at that high speed, the pilots realized their error and rejected the takeoff.
The aircraft managed to come to a stop 4,780 feet (1,450 meters) down the taxiway, meaning that the plane stopped with just 100 feet to spare. Wow.
When you reject a takeoff at such a high speed, you can’t just attempt to depart again, as the brakes could be overheated, and an inspection needs to be performed. Clearly there were some issues, as the flight ended up being canceled, and the plane spent nearly two days on the ground, prior to returning to service. Saudi Arabia’s Aviation Investigation Bureau is now looking into this incident.
How could an incident like this happen?
While pilots attempting to take off from a taxiway rather than a runway is rare, it does happen. As safe as aviation is, it’s still heavily reliant on humans, and humans make mistakes every so often. When you have tens of thousands of flights every day, there are bound to be some issues.
As you’d expect, typically something like this happens due to factors like lack of focus, exhaustion, being in a rush, etc.
What makes this particular incident interesting is that it’s actually not the first time that this happened on the same exact runway. In 2018, a Jet Airways Boeing 737 also attempted to take off from taxiway K after being cleared for takeoff on runway 33R. In that case, the plane overran the taxiway, and ended up coming to a stop on soft ground.
Now, The Aviation Herald notes how the current aerodrome chart for Riyadh Airport actually doesn’t show taxiway K on it, which makes no sense. Not only that, but the taxiway just has a very strange placement — if you’re taxiing toward the runway and then make the first left turn, you might assume that you’re on the runway, when you’re in fact on the taxiway (below is a visualization of the incident that happened in 2018).
So of course pilots should be careful and shouldn’t be taking off on a taxiway, but this is a case where I can definitely see how something like this could happen.
Bottom line
A Boeing 747 attempting to take off from Riyadh Airport accidentally accelerated down the taxiway, rather than the runway. The plane accelerated up to 110 knots, before rejecting the takeoff, and coming to a stop around 100 feet before the end of the taxiway.
While incidents like this shouldn’t happen, I can make sense of how a mistake like this could occur. The airport’s charts don’t seem to accurately show this particular taxiway, and on top of that, the layout of the taxiways could confuse pilots. Hopefully something is done so that this doesn’t happen a third time…
What do you make of this Boeing 747 taxiway incident at Riyadh Airport?
None of these incidents need to happen. All we need is this: https://flightsafety.org/asw-article/topi-an-easy-fix-to-a-nagging-problem/
Your article once again is full of BS for a blogger and frequent traveler. Boeing (the company) and Boeing 747 (the plane) did NOT make any mistakes in this instance. It is “Saudi Arabian Airlines”. Correct your damn headline. The operating carrier is Saudi Arabian Airlines. Not the plane. Not the plane maker.
Remember when Harrison Ford landed on a taxiway at SNA?
Taxiway K is very wide and can therefore easily be mistaken for a runway. However, markings are clear …
An example of how upgrading/overspecifying items (the taxiway) can sometimes have a negative effect on the whole setup.
If they put a triangle of grass/sand at the end of the taxiway with two curved routes in/out would that make it less likely for pilots to make a mistake?
"The aircraft managed to come to a stop 4,780 feet (1,450 meters) down the runway, meaning that the plane stopped with just 100 feet to spare. Wow."
Did you mean "down the taxiway" considering they were taking off down the taxiway?
Any way to find out if this aircraft is equipped with RAAS (Runway awareness and advisory system)? This would alert the crew “On runway 33R”.
While we're talking about "oopsies," how about this one: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/us/emergency-slide-delta-flight-found.html
Real shocker given how well DL management has maintained their 767s!
If it were night, the lights would be different; and if it were daytime, it'd have to be either really hazy or really overbright for them to not see the markings.
Seems like such an easy-to-recognize mistake to our less trained eyes. I am sure there is more.
Perhaps something to add to the checklist: "Does the runway show signs of rubber deposit? If not, is it really the runway?"
Looking at a satellite image, taxiway Kilo is clearly marked as such, but it actually looks wider than runway 33R. Maybe it is possible for unfamiliar pilots to mistake it for a runway.
But aren't runway light white, and taxiway lights blue? Where the lights working and if they were working? If they were how then did the pilots think they were on a runway when they were actually on a taxiway?
How easy is that to see if in very bright sunlight, especially if facing the sun?