Delays of about two hours have been affecting flights arriving into and departing from the San Diego International Airport on Friday afternoon, just as travel for the Labor Day weekend gets underway, according to the airport’s website and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The delays were averaging about 122 minutes, according to the FAA. About 420 flights were delayed at SAN on Friday by 6 p.m., according to FlightAware.com.
A drone and a weather balloon were spotted near the airport, causing the delays, SAN Public Information Officer Nicole Hall told NBC San Diego.
Weather balloons are the best platform for gathering a variety of weather-related data, according to the National Weather Service.
Around 2 p.m., the objects were spotted near the airport, prompting the FAA to temporarily pause arrivals and departures, Hall told NBC San Diego.
By about 4:30 p.m., the FAA reported an all-clear and all airport operations have resumed, Hall said.
Hall added that Airfield Operations would continue to monitor the situation with the FAA, TSA, and local law enforcement. The drone activity is being investigated by the TSA law enforcement, Hall said.
For more information on flights arriving into and out of SAN, click here.
“We were at our gate and they told us at around 3:20 when we were supposed to board at 3:25 that there was going to be a slight delay and then next thing you know, there was a 3.5 hour delay,” traveler Abigail Matossian said.
“They told me there was a drone over the airport earlier today. Total delay time, about an hour, hour and a half,” Brad Hornick said.
“My delay was 3.5 hours I believe,” Matossian said.
“Two and a half hours,” Karisa Stewart said of her delay.