Investigators in Hong Kong have opened an inquiry after the attempted departure of a Finnair Airbus A340 from a taxiway at the international airport.
The incident occurred on 26 November, says Finnair safety vice-president Antti Aukia.
He says that preliminary information suggests the A340 - registered OH-LQD - had originally intended to depart on runway 07L.
The taxiway ran parallel to the prescribed runway but there was no other traffic involved.
Air traffic control intervened to halt the take-off and the aircraft taxied back to the correct departure point, from where it left without further incident, and arrived in Helsinki about 55min behind schedule.
Finnair's return service from Hong Kong is scheduled to depart during hours of darkness. There is no immediate confirmation of weather conditions at the time.
"Finnair will be assisting the Hong Kong and Finnish authorities in every way," says Aukia. "The purpose is to ensure that this kind of human error will not be repeated."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
