Boeing 787 Aborts Takeoff, Then goes off Taxiway Into Grass

TUI 787 Rejected Takeoff and Taxiway Excursion, Melbourne Orlando

On 18 April 2025, TUI Airways Boeing 787-9 G-TUIN was preparing to operate flight BY601 from Melbourne Orlando International Airport in Florida to Birmingham, England. The aircraft began its takeoff roll on runway 09R, but the crew rejected the takeoff after a cockpit warning associated with the autobraking system appeared. The aircraft stopped on the runway, and the crew told the controller that they did not require assistance and could move the aircraft under its own power.

After the rejected takeoff, the crew requested to return to the holding point. ATC cleared the 787 to taxi down the runway, vacate via taxiway C and then turn onto taxiway A. The aircraft was therefore no longer accelerating for departure; the immediate problem had changed from stopping a high-speed takeoff to safely repositioning a heavy wide-body aircraft after the rejected takeoff.

While the aircraft was making the instructed taxi movement, the right main landing gear left the paved surface and entered the grass. The aircraft stopped and became stuck in soft ground. Contemporary reports described the aircraft as remaining on the ground for roughly forty hours before recovery, while other reports said it returned to service two days later. The recovery involved several heavy vehicles and an aircraft tug.

The incident also affected the passengers. About 350 people were associated with the flight, and reporting said they were moved away from the aircraft and accommodated while the recovery took place. One airport operations employee was injured while maneuvering a vehicle around the aircraft. The injury was not described as an injury to a passenger or crew member.

Photographs and contemporary reports showed the 787 stopped with its right main landing gear on the grass beside the taxiway. The aircraft's size made recovery more involved than simply towing a light aircraft back onto pavement. Several heavy recovery vehicles and a tug were required, and the aircraft remained out of normal operation while it was extracted and inspected.

The sequence is also important because the two events happened consecutively but were not the same problem. The first event was the rejected takeoff caused by the cockpit warning. The second was the taxiway excursion after the crew had already stopped the aircraft and been cleared to return toward the holding point. The available reporting describes the rejected takeoff as a mechanical issue and separately records the subsequent taxiway excursion; it does not establish a more specific causal chain between those events.

Accident Facts

Sources

• Video source (ATC/audio reconstruction)
• AeroInside, “TUI B789 at Orlando on Apr 18th 2025, rejected takeoff.”
• AIRLIVE, “A TUI Boeing 787 to Birmingham veered off the taxiway in Florida,” 20 April 2025.
• Aviation24.be reporting on TUI BY601 / G-TUIN, 19–20 April 2025.
• Video/ATC recording