How the pilots of a Southwest Airlines flight confused an airport's taxiing strip for a runway is beyond imagination - but that is what happened in Florida yesterday, forcing an air traffic controller to say "Stop" multiple times before canceling the flight's takeoff.

Officials say a Southwest crew mistook a taxiway, meant for planes getting to and from gates, for the runway at Orlando International Airport on Thursday. The flight was cleared for takeoff and started to accelerate,

The plane began a takeoff roll on a taxiway, after the crew "mistook the surface for the nearby runway," officials said