Pegasus jet taxis wrong way on Frankfurt runway, takeoff halted at 65 km/h

What happened on the runway

On Tuesday, 20 October, a Pegasus Airlines Airbus A321 bound for Istanbul was cleared to take off from runway 18 at Frankfurt airport in the southern direction. Instead of following the assigned taxiway, the aircraft turned the wrong way and began rolling north, toward the opposite end of the runway. The crew kept accelerating until air traffic controllers warned them, and the takeoff was stopped at a low speed of 65 km/h. Before the halt, the jet had covered about 530 metres on the ground. The flight was operated as PC996, and the aircraft was then guided off the runway to a holding point. About seven minutes later it took off southward without any problems, according to The Aviation Herald, the aviation portal that first reported the incident.

Airline and airport accounts

Pegasus Airlines confirmed the incident to The Aviation Herald and said the crew had noticed the error itself and then found the correct taxiway together with the controllers. Blesk reported that the airline denies any wrongdoing. Frankfurt airport operator Fraport confirmed on Sunday, 25 October, that an incident had taken place on Tuesday, but gave no background. The Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) said the controllers had seen the mistake immediately and moved the aircraft off the runway. The sources differ on who first noticed the error, and the airport operator has not explained how it happened.

Investigation and safety assessment

The DFS reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) in Braunschweig, which will decide whether an investigation should be opened. A DFS spokesperson called the event "truly exceptional" and said:

“That does not happen often, especially not in Germany.”

The spokesperson added that there had been no acute danger, because everything was under control in good time. Blesk notes that in aviation, incidents in which an aircraft heads the wrong way are treated as a safety risk, even when they are stopped at an early stage. The BFU will make its decision based on the report it received from the DFS.

How the story spread

The incident first surfaced through The Aviation Herald, and the Hessian broadcaster hessenschau then picked it up. On Sunday, 25 October, hessenschau asked Fraport and the DFS for comment, and both confirmed that an incident had occurred on Tuesday. Neither company gave details about the background. Blesk added that the incident happened at Germany's largest airport, and the aircraft was on a scheduled service to Istanbul at the time.