Nearly three and a half hours after emergency vehicles were called out to the runway at San Diego International Airport on Wednesday when a small jet’s front landing gear collapsed, SAN reopened to air traffic.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred at about 6 p.m. when the aircraft was taking off. Airport officials quickly declared a ground stop while crews worked to clear the private jet off the runway.
“Was wondering what’s going on,” one user posted to X shortly after the ground stop was declared. “Keep seeing big commercial jets flying over my house diverting, never see them flying directly over.”
Zach Tyler
Zach Tyler
A shot of the small jet on the runway at SAN clearly shows it had a problem with the nose gear.
Jonathan Heller with the San Diego International Airport said the jet was taking off when the nose gear collapsed.
“The aircraft came to a stop without any injuries to those on board,” Heller told NBC 7. “However, it became disabled on the runway, causing the runway’s temporary closure. All inbound flights are currently being diverted to other airports. We have no further details at this time.”
An airport official told NBC 7 around 7 p.m. that they were not sure how long it would take to clear the runway. The SAN arrival and departures flight-status page was down for the entirety of the incident, making tracking delays, diversions and cancellations difficult: “This feature is not currently available, please check back soon,” the page states. More than 100 flights were affected by the ground stop.
There was little visible movement on the runway for hours, with the plane still surrounded by emergency vehicles, their lights flashing.
Initially, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System dashboard, the ground stop was scheduled through 8 p.m. That time came and went, however, with the Cessna 750 Citation still on the runway. At some point around then, the dashboard said the airport was closed through midnight, seemingly shutting it down for departures until at least the morning.
However, at a little before 9 p.m., there was finally movement on the runway, and a vehicle was employed to remove the aircraft from the runway. It was not clear at that time whether the airport would be reopened, but within a half-hour, an official told NBC 7 it had.
There have been numerous flight cancellations, however, so anyone planning on going to the airport should check their flight status with their airline before heading down to SAN.
According to the FAA registry, the plane, which has tail number N769XJ, is registered out of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Check back here for updates on this breaking-news story — Ed.