Car on Los Angeles airport runway prompts aborted takeoff

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles International Airport employee mistakenly drove a vehicle onto an active runway, causing a Compass Airlines flight to abort its takeoff.

The twin-engine Embraer E170 with 74 passengers and four crew members aboard was taking off for Kansas City when the car entered the runway, heading for the plane. Alarms sounded, and the pilots applied the plane's brakes and pull off the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The driver of the car was an employee of Los Angeles World Airports, the airport's operations management company. The driver mistakenly turned the company car he was driving onto the runway from a taxiway, officials said, adding the unidentified driver was not cleared to drive on airfield service roads.

"We can't immediately confirm when the last time a runway incident involving a vehicle last occurred, but this is extremely rare," said Nancy Castles, a LAWA spokeswoman.

No injuries were reported.