A private airplane’s nose gear collapsed on a runway at San Diego International Airport, grounding all planes and diverting flights for travelers on Wednesday until at least midnight, according to officials.
The call was reported around 6:40 p.m. and caused a ground stop after a plane reported difficulty with its landing gear, the Federal Aviation Administration and airport officials reported.
“The aircraft came to a stop without any injuries to those on board, however, it became disabled on the runway, causing the runway’s temporary closure,” airport officials said in a statement. “All inbound flights are currently being diverted to other airports. We have no further details at this time.”
The FAA advised the closure would extend through at least midnight. The airport’s flight status tool on its website was not working Wednesday night.
Signature Aviation, which handles private flights out of the airport, could not be immediately reached for further information.
Laura Wingard, a San Diego resident, and her husband had just departed on a flight from Eugene, Ore., Wednesday when the plane got turned back to the airport due to the ground stop in San Diego.
The passengers deplaned, then reboarded in anticipation of the runway reopening soon, only to get bad news.
“Almost as soon as we got seated, the captain comes back on and says, ‘Im really sorry, they’ve now extended it until midnight,’” Wingard said.
“The air escaped all of us at that point.”
The flight deplaned again, and as of 7:45 p.m. passengers were waiting for word on what would happen next.
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