A handful of emergency vehicles were called out to the runway at San Diego International Airport on Wednesday after a small jet’s front landing gear collapsed while it was taking off.
No one was believed to have been injured in the incident, which occurred at about 6 p.m.
Airport officials have declared a ground stop at the airport while crews work to clear the aircraft off the runway.
“Was wondering what’s going on,” one user posted to X. “Keep seeing big commercial jets flying over my house diverting, never see them flying directly over.”
Jonathan Heller with the San Diego International Airport said the private aircraft 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 that they were not sure how long it would take to clear the runway. Also unknown as of 6:45: How many flights had been delayed or deserted, due to the fact that SAN’s arrival and departures flight-status page was down: “This feature is not currently available, please check back soon,” the page states.
An hour after the incident, there was little apparent movement on the runway, with the plane still surrounded by emergency vehicles, their lights flashing. At that time, it appeared that about 100 flights had been delayed or cancelled.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System dashboard, the ground stop is scheduled through 8 p.m.
According to the FAA registry, the plane, which has a tail number of N769XJ, is a Cessna 750 Citation. That aircraft is registered out of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Check back here for updates on this breaking-news story — Ed.