Narrative:

Early in the morning before approach control opened; the pilot of aircraft X requested an IFR clearance from ZZZ. On his initial call up; I did not catch his call sign; so I asked the pilot to repeat the call sign. The pilot repeated the call sign and again asked for a departure clearance. I asked the pilot how long it would be before he was ready to depart to ensure that he was airborne before approach opened so that he wasn't holding up other departures if approach control were to open and he wasn't airborne yet. He responded with '5 minutes; runway xx'. When the pilot read this back; I was listening specifically for a time to be airborne so as to issue a proper clearance void time that would ensure the aircraft was airborne before approach control opened for the day. Being an enroute facility; we do not issue a runway to depart; and expect the pilot reviews published NOTAM's and weather before departure; so I issued an IFR departure clearance to the pilot and the pilot departed runway xx which was NOTAM'd closed. I was aware the runway was closed; but since I did not catch that this was the runway he was departing and as an enroute facility we do not specify a runway for departure; I did not advise him that it was closed. Shortly after the aircraft departed; approach control called my sector to take back their airspace and open for the day. When they did; they asked me to find out what runway aircraft X had departed. I informed approach of the runway and then released the airspace to them. This is when I was notified that the aircraft had departed a closed runway.upon further review of the situation and listening to the transmission a few minutes later; I learned that the pilot used a closed taxiway and closed runway at the airport; both which were NOTAM'd closed. I was also informed by my supervisor after the occurrence that during the takeoff of aircraft X there was a vehicle on the runway as the aircraft was departing; and that this same aircraft had departed on the same closed runway the day prior to this incident as well.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew; Dispatcher and Center Controller reported an aircraft departed from a closed runway at an airport where the Tower had not opened.

Narrative: Early in the morning before Approach Control opened; the pilot of Aircraft X requested an IFR Clearance from ZZZ. On his initial call up; I did not catch his call sign; so I asked the pilot to repeat the call sign. The pilot repeated the call sign and again asked for a departure clearance. I asked the pilot how long it would be before he was ready to depart to ensure that he was airborne before Approach opened so that he wasn't holding up other departures if Approach Control were to open and he wasn't airborne yet. He responded with '5 minutes; Runway XX'. When the pilot read this back; I was listening specifically for a time to be airborne so as to issue a proper Clearance Void Time that would ensure the aircraft was airborne before Approach Control opened for the day. Being an enroute facility; we do not issue a runway to depart; and expect the pilot reviews published NOTAM's and weather before departure; so I issued an IFR departure clearance to the pilot and the pilot departed Runway XX which was NOTAM'd closed. I was aware the runway was closed; but since I did not catch that this was the runway he was departing and as an enroute facility we do not specify a runway for departure; I did not advise him that it was closed. Shortly after the aircraft departed; Approach Control called my sector to take back their airspace and open for the day. When they did; they asked me to find out what runway Aircraft X had departed. I informed Approach of the runway and then released the airspace to them. This is when I was notified that the aircraft had departed a closed runway.Upon further review of the situation and listening to the transmission a few minutes later; I learned that the pilot used a closed taxiway and closed runway at the airport; both which were NOTAM'd closed. I was also informed by my Supervisor after the occurrence that during the takeoff of Aircraft X there was a vehicle on the runway as the aircraft was departing; and that this same aircraft had departed on the same closed runway the day prior to this incident as well.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.