Turkish Airlines faced a runway safety scare at Newark Liberty International Airport when an Airbus A350-900 operating flight TK30 from Newark to Istanbul rolled onto Runway 4L without explicit clearance. The aircraft, registered TC-LGL, entered the active runway on 15 September after an air traffic control exchange that included wording the crew appears to have understood as permission to continue taxiing onto the runway.
Tower controllers told the crew they were not cleared onto Runway 4L and instructed them to vacate the runway when able before later providing a telephone number to call over a possible pilot deviation. The aircraft had been expected to taxi via Taxiway B, but instead used Taxiway N, creating a runway incursion risk while traffic was being managed on the same runway. One report indicated the crew referred to a technical difficulty, although the available radio audio does not establish the precise cause of the error.
The case underscores the safety sensitivity of runway phraseology at a major hub such as Newark, where even a brief misunderstanding can create a serious conflict on an active runway. No official regulatory finding has been reported yet, and the incident is so far documented through ATC audio and aviation media coverage.