SAS A20N at Brussels on Feb 5th 2026, attempted takeoff from taxiway

Last Update: March 7, 2026 / 11:28:51 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 5, 2026

Classification
Incident

Airline
SAS Scandinavian Airlines

Flight number
SK-2590

Departure
Brussels, Belgium

Destination
Copenhagen, Denmark

Aircraft Registration
SE-ROM

Aircraft Type
Airbus A320-200N

ICAO Type Designator
A20N

Airport
Brussels Airport, Brussels

Airport ICAO Code
EBBR

A SAS Scandinavian Airlines Airbus A320-200N, registration SE-ROM performing flight SK-2590 from Brussels (Belgium) to Copenhagen (Denmark) with 152 passengers and 6 crew, was taxiing along the outer taxiway (Out-10) and was cleared for takeoff from runway 07R however lined up parallel taxiway E1, short of the runway, and started their takeoff roll on the taxiway along taxiways E1-F2-V1 at 22:03L (21:03Z). The crew rejected takeoff at high speed (about 100 knots over ground) - just about at where taxiway V1 gets narrower - and managed to stop the aircraft at the intersection of taxiways V1/C1 just before running beyond the end of the taxiway. The passengers disembarked onto the taxiway and were bussed to the terminal.

The flight was cancelled.

The airport reported the aircraft commenced takeoff on the parallel taxiway instead of the runway and rejected takeoff. The aircraft stopped just short of the airport's fuel tanks. Emergency services responded, the passengers disembarked and were bussed to the terminal. There were no injuries. The passengers were rebooked onto other flights. An investigation has been opened.

The airline is cooperating with the investigation into the taxiway incident.

On Feb 13th 2026 the Belgian Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) reported that after being cleared for takeoff from runway 07R the aircraft mistakenly lined up taxiway E1 at the intersection of taxiways Outer 10/C6, C5 and E1/Z and began a rolling takeoff. At the 100 KIAS call out the crew became aware of the misalignment. The aircraft reached 126 KIAS before brakes were applied and the thrust reversers deployed. The aircraft came to stop on the paved surface adjacent to the taxiway edges near the intersection of taxiways V1 and C1. There were no injuries, the aircraft did not sustain any damage. The occurrence was rated an incident and is being investigated by the Belgian AAIU.

On Mar 7th 2026 Belgium's AAIU released their preliminary report summarizing the sequence of events:

At 18:48, a new CTOT (Calculated Take-Off Time) of 20:48 was assigned for the next rotation, SAS43M from Brussels back to Copenhagen, originally scheduled to depart at 19:30.

The flight to Brussels proceeded without abnormalities. The aircraft landed on Runway 07L at 20:01 (scheduled arrival 18:50) and arrived at the stand 147 at 20:06, leaving just 42 minutes turnaround time to comply with the ATC restriction. At 20:22, an updated CTOT of 21:00 was issued for flight SAS43M.

Henceforth, all times are expressed in hours:minutes:seconds.

Reportedly, boarding for the return flight proved challenging due to a high number of passengers carrying substantial amounts of cabin baggage. Several announcements were made via the PA system requesting passengers to expedite the boarding process.

At 20:38:08 the take-off briefing is performed. The expected taxi route is also briefly reviewed by the captain. Translated from Norwegian: “from 147 backwards with the nose in direction east, then onto one of these two taxiways leading out, Romeo 4 or Sierra, and then southbound on the Inner. After that, Charlie 6, which we have calculated for in case we are in a hurry. But I expect full runway since we have a slot.” The crew had already identified the configuration of RWY 07L and 07R as a potential threat during the arrival and approach briefing on the previous flight. Mention was made to stop and ask when in doubt during taxi.

Pushback for SAS43M was completed at 20:56:03. Engine #2 was started at 20:56:34. Although a single engine taxi was initially planned, the crew decided to start the second engine earlier to give the cabin crew additional time to complete their take-off preparations while the aircraft remained stationary. The cabin crew had asked for and received permission to perform briefing of overwing exit passengers during pushback in order to reach the slot.

At 20:58:26, the crew contacted Brussels Tower and reported ready to taxi. They were issued taxi instructions via taxiways Inner and Z to the holding point near the threshold of Runway 07R.

The aircraft began taxiing at 20:58:38. The captain acted as pilot flying (PF), the first officer as pilot monitoring (PM).

At 20:59:46, an Airbus A350 operating as ETH751 commenced its take-off roll from position H on Runway 07R. This was the final departure from Runway 07R prior to SAS43M. At that moment, SAS43M was still taxiing on taxiway R4, between Apron 1 South and Apron 2 North.

At 21:00:11 during taxi, the cabin crew notified the flight crew that they were ready for departure. This was followed by the execution of the taxi checklist at 21:00:43. The flight crew then discussed the possibility of requesting the intersection departure from Runway 07R to save time. Shortly thereafter, at 21:01:09, Brussels Tower independently proposed this option by asking, “Scandinavian 43M able C6?”. Following the crew’s confirmation, ATC issued a revised taxi clearance routing the aircraft via taxiway Outer toward intersection C6.

At 21:02:05, when the aircraft just entered taxiway Outer 9, the flight crew received the instruction “Line up and wait.” At that time, the red stop bar at holding point C6 was extinguished. The captain remarked in the cockpit, “And then the red line disappeared.”

At 21:02:52, roughly 45 seconds later, the aircraft had entered Outer 10, which the crew apparently mistook for Taxiway C6. The captain stated, “We are at Charlie six and we are cleared to enter. Entering active - clear left,” and the first officer responded, “Clear right."

The captain then prompted the first officer to proceed with the line-up checklist, while the groundspeed decreased from 15 to 10 knots:

First officer: “Take-off runway”
Captain: “Charlie six…..runway zero seven right”
First officer: Pause… “Euh…. yes. TCAS”
First officer: “TCAS”
Captain: “TA/RA”
First officer: “Packs one and two”
Captain: “Off”
First officer: “Complete”

A left turn toward Taxiway E1 was just initiated when, at 21:03:16, the crew received the takeoff clearance. At that moment, the aircraft was on a heading of 186° (while the Outer Taxiway follows a heading of 194°).

At 21:03:40, the captain asked the first officer whether the crew was ready for take-off, and the first officer confirmed readiness. At that moment, the CCTV recording shows the landing light being switched on, while the aircraft was still rolling at a groundspeed of 3 knots and completing its alignment.

At 21:03:47, the turn was completed, and the aircraft established a steady heading of 070°. The thrust levers were advanced to the FLEX detent. At 21:03:51, full FLEX thrust was set, the aircraft was accelerating, and the captain announced the FMA indications: “MAN FLEX – SRS – AUTOTHRUST BLUE”, to which the first officer responded, “Checked, thrust set.” The first officer continued monitoring the instruments while the captain looked outside.

At 21:04:02, the aircraft passed 100 kt IAS. The first officer made the “100 knots” callout, a critical crosscheck that verifies both pilots’ airspeed indications are consistent and signals the transition from the low speed to the high speed regime. The captain, having observed that the forward view appeared increasingly narrow, did not respond immediately.

The first officer later reported finding it unusual that the captain did not respond in accordance with SOPs, as normally expected. The first officer looked outside and immediately recognized that the aircraft was not on a runway. The first officer stated, “No, this is wrong,” and subsequently issued the command, “Stop, stop, stop, stop.” The captain initiated the stop almost immediately.

At 21:04:09, the thrust levers were moved to full reverse, and braking was applied. At this moment, the aircraft had reached 127 kt IAS. Observing the end of the taxiway and a fence approaching, the first officer instructed a right turn.

At 21:04:15, the ATCO observed that an aborted take-off was being initiated but chose not to intervene immediately, as the flight crew was already occupied and communication was not considered a priority at that moment.

The aircraft came to a stop at 21:04:23 on a piece of tarmac next to taxiway C1. The engines were set to idle, and the parking brake was applied.

At 21:04:26, the ATCO realised the aircraft’s position and that the aborted take-off had occurred from a taxiway.

At 21:04:30, Brussels Tower transmitted, “Scandinavian 43M?”

The first officer responded, “We are OK, but something went very wrong, stand-by.”

The Airport Rescue and Firefighting Service (ARFF) was alerted by ATC at 21:04:48, and the first crash tender arrived on scene 5 minutes later.

Communications were switched to another (spare) frequency to not interfere with normal operations.

Upon arrival, it was quickly established that the aircraft had not struck any object and that no injuries had occurred among passengers or crew. The brake temperatures were subsequently checked by the firefighters using thermal imaging.

The initial intention of the flight crew was to taxi the aircraft back to the gate. However, following consultation between the crew, airport operations, and the ARFF, it was decided that the passengers would be disembarked on site and the aircraft would be towed. Although no impact had taken place, the nose landing gear was positioned immediately in front of the runway guard lights (wigwags) left of the stop bar at C1, which required removal prior to towing.

Passengers disembarked via mobile stairs provided by the ARFF. A bus with approximately 50 seats was arranged to transport the passengers back to the terminal, which had to be done in three rides. The last passenger disembarked the aircraft at 23:13, and the crew disembarked at 23:37. The towing operation commenced at 00:46, and the aircraft arrived at stand 354 at 01:06, where a service check was carried out the following day.

Metars:
EBBR 052150Z 11005KT 9999 FEW032 BKN048 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 052120Z 11005KT 9999 FEW032 BKN048 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 052050Z 11005KT 9999 FEW032 BKN048 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 052020Z 10005KT 070V130 9999 BKN035 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 051950Z 10006KT 9999 BKN035 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 051920Z 11005KT 9999 BKN035 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 051850Z 10005KT 9999 BKN035 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 051820Z 11007KT 9999 BKN030 07/05 Q0986 NOSIG=
EBBR 051750Z 11007KT 9999 -RA SCT025 BKN030 07/05 Q0987 NOSIG=
Aircraft Registration Data
Registration mark
SE-ROM
Country of Registration
Sweden
Date of Registration
Aecpnndgppqmbcckp Subscribe to unlock
Manufacturer
AIRBUS
Aircraft Model / Type
A320-251N
ICAO Aircraft Type
A20N
Year of Manufacture
Dl g Subscribe to unlock
Serial Number
Ggh Subscribe to unlock
Maximum Take off Mass (MTOM) [kg]
Negli Subscribe to unlock
Engine Count
A Subscribe to unlock
Main Owner
HbdAd bfpfhj kpcknAmcmmgh hfpkA ci AgijmgnqdgfAkih c Subscribe to unlock
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 5, 2026

Classification
Incident

Airline
SAS Scandinavian Airlines

Flight number
SK-2590

Departure
Brussels, Belgium

Destination
Copenhagen, Denmark

Aircraft Registration
SE-ROM

Aircraft Type
Airbus A320-200N

ICAO Type Designator
A20N

Airport
Brussels Airport, Brussels

Airport ICAO Code
EBBR

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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