On 25 January 2002, in VMC at night, an Airbus A340-300 successfully took-off from a parallel taxiway, adjacent to the departure runway, which was of less length than the calculated airplane take-off distance required, at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska. As a consequence of the taxiway departure the airplane contacted a snow bank with the main landing gear at the end of the taxiway. However, the A340 completed its flight without further incident.