Singer and actor Donnie Wahlberg escaped injury on Sunday morning when a private jet carrying him and seven other people skidded off a runway and struck a perimeter fence during an aborted takeoff at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
The incident occurred at approximately 11 a.m. local time on Sunday, Oct. 18, as the aircraft attempted departure from Runway 1L, according to airport officials and the Associated Press. The Dassault Falcon 50 was bound for Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to news outlets.
Takeoff aborted near runway edge
Airport spokesperson Monika Bertaki told the Associated Press that the aircraft veered off the pavement and hit a perimeter fence, noting there were no reported injuries among the eight occupants. Federal authorities reported that the pilots aborted takeoff during the departure roll, though the underlying cause of the aborted departure remains under investigation.
Online flight data showed the business jet rolling toward the end of the runway before steering to the right and halting just past the paved boundary. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly ordered a ground stop across the airport, citing an aircraft emergency. Airport operations personnel shut down runways 1L and 1R to conduct safety inspections before reopening both strips later in the afternoon.
An air traffic control recording published online captured crew members transmitting “Aborting. Aborting,” followed by air traffic controllers notifying ground teams that emergency rescue vehicles were rolling toward the airfield.
Wahlberg praises flight crew
Wahlberg, 57, detailed the harrowing experience in a video message posted to his Instagram account later Sunday. Filming near the airfield as crews worked in the background, the “Blue Bloods” star said the aircraft ran out of pavement before ever lifting off the ground.
“We were taking off and didn’t get up in the air and ran out of runway,” Wahlberg said in the video. “I’m just going to tell you these pilots saved our lives.”
Wahlberg noted that the plane narrowly avoided parked trucks, heavy construction machinery and dumpsters located near the edge of the airfield before hitting the final perimeter fence. In his post, the performer wrote that the jet experienced minor damage while passengers emerged unscathed, adding that the event felt like an intense stretch of several long minutes.
His wife, television personality Jenny McCarthy, echoed his gratitude in public comments, writing, “God is so good!” Several other entertainment industry figures also posted messages of relief on his page.
Investigation underway
The runway excursion took place mere hours after Wahlberg finished a concert run with his pop group, New Kids on the Block. The band had concluded its “The Right Stuff” Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM on Saturday night, Oct. 17. Wahlberg was departing the city alongside members of his touring team when the scare took place.
Aviation investigators have not announced what mechanical or environmental factors caused the pilots to abort the flight. The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the aborted takeoff to determine why the jet failed to achieve flight.
