Private Jet Blows Through Fence at Las Vegas Airport, Triggers FAA Ground Stop
A Dassault Falcon 50 ran off the end of a runway during takeoff and plowed into a perimeter fence at Harry Reid International Airport on Sunday morning, grounding flights across one of the country's busiest airports. No one was hurt.
A private jet skidded off a runway and slammed through a perimeter fence at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Sunday morning, triggering an FAA ground stop that snarled flights at one of the nation's busiest travel hubs, officials said.
The aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 50 business jet, ran off the end of the runway during what airport officials described as a planned takeoff around 11 a.m. local time, according to a report from the Associated Press. The plane came to a stop after breaching the airport's boundary fence.
Airport spokesperson Monika Bertaki said no injuries were reported among those aboard the jet. Officials have not disclosed who owns or operated the aircraft, how many people were on board, or what caused it to leave the pavement.
Runways shut, flights grounded
Two runways at Harry Reid were closed so crews could inspect the aircraft, the fence and the surrounding tarmac. The Federal Aviation Administration responded by issuing a temporary ground stop for flights bound for the airport, stacking up delays across the system before the stop was lifted and runways reopened later in the day.
NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED, ACCORDING TO AIRPORT OFFICIALS, AS CREWS WORKED TO CLEAR THE RUNWAY AND REOPEN THE AIRFIELD TO TRAFFIC.
It's the second runway excursion at the airport this year; a general-aviation aircraft slid off a runway after a landing-gear malfunction in late August, though that earlier incident did not involve a fence strike. Harry Reid, formerly McCarran International, is among the country's highest-traffic airports, logging more than 370,000 takeoffs and landings and over 34 million passengers through the first eight months of 2026.
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA typically investigate runway excursions involving business jets to determine whether mechanical failure, pilot error or runway conditions played a role. Neither agency had released a cause as of Sunday evening, and it remained unclear whether the jet was accelerating for takeoff or aborting one when it left the runway.
Flight delays rippled through Sunday afternoon as airlines worked to recover their schedules following the ground stop. The airport has not said when a full investigation or runway reopening timeline would be complete.