The pilots of a Boeing 737 started to mistakenly take off from a taxiway at a Florida airport on Thursday before an air traffic controller told them to stop, the Federal Aviation Administration said,

The words of an American Airlines pilot revealed the sudden escalation to an emergency as flight AA 1006 made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport.

After a brief exchange with an air traffic controller, an airline pilot decided to swing for the fences and ask her out on the radio. “Hey there,” the pilot said. “I pulled you up on my number two radio. And I was like ‘Hey, is it inappropriate to ask for a controller’s number?’”