I heard a snow berm on the taxiway end had just been cleared = before the A-340 took off=2C but that wasn=27t reported by either station= =27s = report below=3A http=3A//www1=2Emsnbc=2Ecom/local/KTUU/M141455=2Easp China Airlines flight goes awry at takeoff Joy Mapaye = Anchorage=2C Alaska=2C Jan=2E 25 - Members of the National = Transportation Safety Board are investigating a close call early = Friday morning at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport=2E = =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0A China Airlines passenger plane with 250 people onboard = took off in the wrong direction and on a taxiway=2C rather than a = runway=2E = =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0The plane was directed to take off on the northbound runwa= y=2C = instead=2C it took off on the westbound taxiway=2E = =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Investigators are calling the incident =22quite serious=2E= =22 = =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=22What makes it more complex is this is a foreign crew th= at=27s = now in a foreign country=2E So=2C we will begin a coordination process = with the investigative agency from Taipei=2C to kind of round out the = issues about crew statements and those kinds of things=2C=22 said = Scott Erickson with NTSB=2E = =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0The plane did take off without incident=2E Investigators s= aid the = plane=27s landing gear did graze a snow berm=2E = =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0The NTSB will now listen to tapes of the audio transmissio= n to = find out what went wrong=2E = http=3A//www=2Ektva=2Ecom/Stories/ 0=2C1002=2C6884=25257E360203=25257E163=25257E=2C00=2Ehtml NTSB investigates wrong-way takeoff by China Airlines plane = The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an = incident this morning in which a China Airlines plane took off in the = wrong direction and on a taxi-way instead of a runway=2E = Jim LaBelle=2C who heads the agency=27s Alaska office=2C says the China = Airlines Airbus A-343 had about 250 passengers and = crewmembers on board when the incident occurred shortly before = 3 a-m at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport=2E = The plane was directed to take off on the north-bound runway=2E = Instead it took off on a west-bound taxiway over=2E = Runways and taxiways have different lighting colors to help pilots = distinguish between the two=2E A taxiway has blue lights while a = runway has white lights=2E = The plane departed safely=2C but LaBelle says the landing gear = grazed a snowberm at the end of the taxiway as it lifted off=2E LaBelle = says the incident underscores the need for a large-scale water- rescue plan for Cook Inlet=2E = LaBelle says investigators will listen to tapes of the radio = transmissions between the China Airlines cockpit and the control = tower to determine what went wrong=2E = (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press=2E All Rights Reserved=2E)