A flight from Florida to Albany almost took off from a taxiway rather than a runway Thursday before an air traffic controller stopped the plane.

Officials say it happened at Orlando International Airport. Southwest Flight 3278 had been cleared for takeoff on a taxiway after the crew mistook the surface for the nearby runway. Air traffic controllers canceled the clearance before the plane could take off.

No one was hurt, but passengers were taken off the plane and moved to another aircraft. While most, if not all, the passengers eventually made it to their destination – New York’s Capital Region – some passengers said it was a traumatic experience that will likely stick with them for some time, as they were mere moments from a presumably dangerous situation.

“The plane was going," Southwest passenger Nanci Beyrel recounted. "We just thought, 'OK, we’re lifting off,' and then there was just a screeching, brakes went on real hard, putting our hands up on the seat ahead of us and the plane came to a stop.”

Beyerl owns a horse rescue operation in Schenectady County and was aboard the plane bound for Albany.

“Everybody is just looking around, like, 'what the heck just happened?' ” she said.

Beyerl says the plane taxied back to a gate where she and fellow passengers deplaned and boarded another aircraft.

“Nobody from Southwest came to say anything," she said. "You know, 'how are you doing? Anybody have any questions? You OK? Do you need anything? Do you want a cup of coffee?' ”

She says the airline provided passengers on board with a $200 voucher for a future flight. But she says gesture falls short.

“I haven’t felt this level of anxiety and just off, not on my game at all today,” she said.

Taxiways are how planes navigate from gate to gate and eventually to runways where planes takeoff.

Everything seemed status quo at first.

“But something that happened before we took off that I have reached out to Southwest, I'm trying to get in touch with them, because the pilot said instead of Albany, he said the word Albania twice,” Beyerl said.

According to a statement issued by Southwest, the crew mistook the taxiway for the runway, and that it’s working with the Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the incident.

“How did the pilot not know, how did the copilot not know that they were on a taxiway and not a runway, and they gunned it?” Beyerl said.

Service between Orlando and Albany was otherwise uninterrupted.

In a statement, the airline said, “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”