Comair flight 5191 is not the only recent flight to have attempted a take-off from the wrong runway. Others include:
■ 31 October 2000 a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400, taxiing at night in poor visibility, was cleared to take off on runway 05L at Taipei's Chiang Kai Shek airport in Taiwan, but attempted a take-off from 05R. It collided with heavy machinery parked on 05R for resurfacing, killing 81 of the 159 passengers and 20 crew on board. The clearance to take off from 05L was passed just before the aircraft crossed the threshold of 05R on its way to the live runway. But the captain turned right on to 05R.
■ 25 January 2002 a China Airlines Airbus A340, taxiing at night at Anchorage airport, Alaska, was cleared south via taxiway Romeo, to turn right (west) on to taxiway Kilo, bound for runway 32, a right turn off Kilo. The crew acknowledged instructions correctly, but when they made the first turn right on to Kilo they treated the taxiway as if it were the runway and took off from it . The aircraft got airborne at the taxiway end, leaving tyre marks in a snow bank beyond it, but continued to Taipei.
■ 5 November 2005 an EVA Air Boeing MD-11 freighter at Anchorage, Alaska, was cleared to take off from runway 32, but took off from the parallel taxiway, which is a lot shorter than the runway. The aircraft took off successfully and continued to Taipei without further incident.
Source: Flight International
