Extensive study of the near - limb solar filament eruption event on 2000 February 26 , involving coronal images from YOHKOH , SOHO EIT and photospheric magnetogram from MID have shown that that both " runaway - tether - cutting - type reconnection " and " fast breakout - type reconnection " may have occurred early in the fast phase of the eruption and may have played an important role in unleashing the explosion ( Sterling & Moore 2004 ) . That study did not identify which or if either of these types of reconnection actually triggered the fast phase . Here , together with a magnetogram and He1 10830 A filtergram from NSO / KP , we present Halpha filtergrams from Big Bear Solar Observatory , that show evidence of " tether - cutting - type reconnection " before and during the eruption of the southern filament , situated at one of the neutral lines of the quadrupole magnetic structure .