Actor and former New Kids on the Block performer Donnie Wahlberg, brother of popular actor and Catholic personality Mark Wahlberg, is thanking God and giving praise to pilots who he credits with helping prevent a “serious disaster” after his private jet, which was carrying him and seven other individuals, skidded off the runway at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
On October 18, Wahlberg, who had just completed a performance with New Kids on the Block during the band’s final show of their Las Vegas residency, got on social media to recount what happened with the plane and to thank the pilots and God for keeping everyone aboard the jet safe during the ordeal. The caption for his post read, “Getting a lot of concerned messages and texts about my flight’s failed attempt at leaving Las Vegas this morning.”
“I appreciate your concern and well wishes,” he continued. “I made this video for my friends and family after the incident, but so many of you all are my family too so I figured I’d share with you,” Wahlberg continued. “Yes, it was me and my team/friends onboard the aircraft. It was a rather intense few moments, which felt like a few long minutes,” he said.
According to Fox News, Wahlberg stated in a video that was filmed following the incident that the plane never got into the air. “We’re all okay. I’m okay,” he explained in the video. “We were taking off and didn’t get up in the air and ran out of runway.” He then said, “I’m just going to tell you these pilots saved our lives. God covered us. I’m not sure how many fences we avoided, we didn’t avoid the last one.”
Wahlberg then said that the plane just barely missed colliding with trucks, heavy equipment, and dumpsters that were located near the end of the runway. “God is good,” he said. “I just finished praying, and I looked out the window and said, ‘We’re not going up in the air today, but we’re safe and thankful.’ All is good. Praise Jesus.”
In his Instagram caption, Wahlberg again praised the pilots and all the emergency personnel who responded to the scene and provided assistance. “Thankful to God, of course, and to our incredible pilots who did an amazing job of keeping us safe and avoiding a serious disaster,” he went on to write. “The airplane did take some lumps — but we did not.”
“Thank you to all the emergency personnel on the ground in Las Vegas! You all were absolutely wonderful,” he continued. “All glory to God! By His grace, we are all okay.” Jenny McCarthy, Wahlberg’s wife, responded to his post with a comment that said, “God is so good!” Monika Bertaki, a spokesperson for Harry Reid International Airport, issued a statement confirming the aircraft skidded off runway 1L at 11 a.m. on Sunday and made contact with the perimeter fence of the airport.
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“At approximately 11 a.m., upon departure, a general aviation aircraft skid off runway 1L at LAS and made contact with the perimeter fence,” the airport went on to say in a statement shared on social media. “There are no known injuries at this time.” The airport then informed travelers that runways 1R and 1L would be shut down for inspections, which could lead to potential delays.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video