Hong Kong pilots sacked for trying to take off on airport ..

[TCAS]

Hong Kong - Two pilots with a Hong Kong airline have been sacked for trying to take off in plane carrying 122 passengers from a taxiway rather than a runway, the airline said Sunday.

Hong Kong Airlines captain Indra Santrianto and his Argentinian First Officer Diego Martin Chiadria were dismissed over the incident Boeing 737 at Hong Kong International Airport on September 13.

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[CX]

how can a pilot mistaken a taxiway for a runway anyway? i mean, the lighting can't be the cause right?

it's more like pilots get bored travelling the whole runway length of taxiway and they decide to speed up and get to the other end faster? i don't know, sounds like Microsoft Flight Simulator.

[TCAS_climb]

Remember the Singapore 744 crashing into heavy machinery while attempting to takeoff from a closed runway ? Or the CRJ taking-off from the wrong runway ? The list goes on...

It's not that "difficult" to get lost on an airport unfortunately.

[Marten]

Yes, there could be confusion between different runways, but confusing a taxiway with a runway?

IF he attempted to take-off at a taxiway, he would never had received a take-off clearance before.
Taking off without take-off clearance AND taking a taxiway instead of a runway looks weird to me.

just my opinion.

Greetings Marten

[TCAS]

how can a pilot mistaken a taxiway for a runway anyway?

Sometimes it can be confusing, see picture.



Contributing factors:
1. Inadequate (multinational: Indonesian/Argentinian) crew training in Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Positional Awareness and Alertness, Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) etc.

2. Inadequate taxiway lighting and ground marking systems.