KLM 606 Rejects Takeoff at San Francisco After Clearance Is Cancelled

Accident Facts

KLM flight KL606 was accelerating for departure from San Francisco International Airport on 21 January 2019 when the tower cancelled its takeoff clearance. The Boeing 787-9, registration PH-BHH, rejected the takeoff and vacated Runway 01R. The event was unusual because the decision to stop was driven by an ATC instruction rather than an aircraft malfunction.

The flight was operating from San Francisco to Amsterdam. According to the contemporary incident record, the crew had already begun the takeoff roll when the tower instructed the aircraft to stop. The crew responded with the rejected takeoff and then cleared the runway for further instructions.

The incident matters because a rejected takeoff after acceleration is itself a significant operational event even when the aircraft is not malfunctioning. Once the takeoff roll has begun, stopping a heavy transport aircraft requires the crew to use the runway remaining and the aircraft's braking system in a controlled sequence. In this case, the reason for the rejection came from outside the aircraft: the takeoff clearance had been cancelled.

The contemporary report describes the event as a rejected takeoff on dispatch instruction. It also indicates that the flight subsequently continued after the operational issue was resolved. There is no basis in the available record for claiming that the aircraft experienced a mechanical failure or that the crew rejected the takeoff because of an abnormal indication.

The important distinction is therefore between an ordinary takeoff abort caused by an aircraft problem and this event, where the instruction to stop came from the tower. The crew's response was to comply immediately with the cancelled clearance rather than continue an already-started takeoff. That made the event operationally significant without turning it into an aircraft accident.

The available public record does not establish a broader systemic finding about San Francisco ATC from this event alone. The strongest factual account is the simple sequence: clearance issued, takeoff roll begun, clearance cancelled, takeoff rejected, runway vacated, and the flight later continued.

The ATC recording adds an important operational detail: the tower explained that the cancellation had come from the company, and the crew had been working from incomplete or incorrect cargo data. Dispatch then sent corrected data, the crew recomputed takeoff performance, and the flight departed about 30 minutes after the rejected takeoff. That sequence makes the event more than an unexplained tower command: the takeoff was stopped while the load information was being corrected.

Sources

• AeroInside — KLM B789 at San Francisco, 21 Jan 2019