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.

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

The plane almost took off from a taxiway before an air traffic controller stopped it. Officials said the plane had been cleared to takeoff but had mistook the surface for a nearby runway.