SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The runway at San Diego International Airport has reopened following an hours-long ground stop Wednesday night.
According to an airport spokesperson, the runway reopened just after 9:20 p.m.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the ground stop was issued just after 6:30 p.m. after a private aircraft tried to take off, but had difficulty with its landing gear. All inbound flights were diverted to other airports.
No one was injured aboard the stalled aircraft.
Although the runway was reopened, those flying were urged to check their flight status before returning to the airport due to numerous cancellations.
The airport’s list of arrivals and departures also appeared to be down during the stoppage, with a message appearing on the site stating, “This feature is not currently available, please check back soon.”
Inside the airport, passengers gathered their luggage amid a stressful night.
“We got to the airport and they said there was a small plane that crashed on the airport and hundreds of flights got diverted to other airports. Our flight got canceled, but luckily, the United person helped us to catch a flight for tomorrow from LAX, but we have to find a ride now to go to LAX,” said Essa Arzo.
Another passenger said he’s lucky to have a place to sleep tonight.
“When I got back to the hotel, which is not, not far from the airport, um, they said they had sold out. So in the time that I had rebooked to the time I got to the airport, which was probably, you know, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, they had booked up again," Keith St. Peter said.
