Thousands of people flying into or out of San Diego on New Year’s Day had their travel plans disrupted after a rainstorm hit the city.
Data from Flightradar24 showed 40 flights headed for San Diego International Airport decided to land elsewhere on January 1.
There were enough diversions that air traffic control activated a recovery tool to help planes reach their intended destinations.
Another 53 flights into or out of the airport were canceled, plus nearly 270 were delayed, according to data from FlightAware.
That meant around 40% of the flights were behind schedule.
The disruption was due to an “equipment outage,” according to an air traffic control advisory.
In a post on X, the airport also said the weather was causing flight delays, with some nearby roads closed due to flooding.
San Diego is the third-busiest airport in California. It reported handling over 25 million passengers in 2024.
The airport and the Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment Business Insider sent outside US working hours.
While many of the diverted flights eventually made it to San Diego, it was likely a frustrating day for many travellers.
Japan Airlines Flight 66 had flown about 10 hours from Tokyo to San Diego. After circling around the airport, it diverted to Los Angeles, a 30-minute flight away.
Just over two hours later, the Boeing 787 took off again and completed the short flight down to San Diego.
Some Southwest Airlines passengers departing Sacramento had a two-hour flight to nowhere. Flight 3138 spent an hour circling north of Los Angeles before returning to its origin, per flight-tracking data. It later took off again and reached San Diego about five hours behind schedule.
While most flights were able to divert elsewhere in California, around a dozen of them diverted to Phoenix.
A Southwest flight from Baltimore spent about an hour circling just west of the Arizona state capital before touching down there.
It was on the ground for over three hours before continuing on to San Diego, landing roughly five hours later than planned.
The airline didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside US working hours.
Two private jets, flying from Colorado ski resorts, didn’t have to divert too far — they were the only ones able to land at McClellan-Palomar Airport in northern San Diego County, per Flightradar24.
