New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg says he survived a failed Las Vegas takeoff when the jet ran out of runway and hit a fence, and he says the pilots saved everyone aboard.
Wahlberg posted an Instagram video on Sunday describing a takeoff that never got off the ground at Harry Reid International Airport. The actor and singer said the plane ran out of runway, clipped the final fence, and still missed trucks, heavy equipment, and dumpsters beyond it.
ABC News reported his account of the scare, along with airport and federal statements on a general-aviation runway excursion the same day. Officials have not confirmed that Wahlberg was among the passengers.
Even so, his message was blunt: everyone walked away, and the crew deserved the credit.
In the video, Wahlberg told followers the cabin came through intact after the aborted climb.
"We're all OK. I'm OK. We were taking off and didn't get up in the air and ran out of runway,"
He went further on the pilots’ split-second work as the jet chewed up pavement and closed on the airport boundary.
"These pilots saved our lives and... I'm not sure how many fences we avoided but we didn't avoid the last one. But we avoided those trucks and heavy equipment and the dumpsters behind that,"
That is the kind of plain talk passengers remember when hardware meets the edge of a runway. Skill in the cockpit still matters more than slogans on the ground.
Harry Reid International Airport said a general aviation aircraft skidded off runway 1L on departure and made contact with the perimeter fence. The airport also said there were no known injuries at the time of its Sunday statement.
"upon departure, a general aviation aircraft skid off runway 1L at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and made contact with the perimeter fence."
Officials closed runways 1R and 1L for inspection and warned travelers about delays. A temporary ground stop hit the Las Vegas field as crews checked the pavement and the fence line.
Both runways reopened later that same day after the inspections. For a busy hub feeding the Strip and the rest of the country, a short closure still ripples through connections and crews.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating. The agency also said eight people were aboard a Dassault Falcon 50 scheduled to fly to Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada.
The Falcon 50 is a long-serving business jet, the kind charter and corporate operators use for cross-border hops. Eight souls on board is a full small-cabin load for an incident that ends at a perimeter fence instead of in the air.
No cause has been released. No tail number or operator name appeared in the initial public statements. The open file now sits with federal investigators, not with social media.
Wahlberg, known to millions from New Kids on the Block and a long acting career, framed the Sunday post as a survival thank-you. Airport and FAA statements described the skid, the fence contact, the headcount, and the destination. They did not name him.
That gap matters. Celebrity posts travel faster than incident reports. Verified facts still set the record: a failed departure, a runway overrun on 1L, fence contact, eight people on a Falcon 50 bound for Toronto, no known injuries, a ground stop, inspections, and a federal investigation.
Until investigators say more, the public has Wahlberg’s praise for the pilots and the airport’s confirmation that the jet left the paved surface and hit the fence.
When a takeoff goes wrong, trained pilots and clear procedures, not press releases, are what stand between a scare and a tragedy.
