Actor/singer Donnie Wahlberg thanked God and several airline pilots after a “serious disaster” was prevented on the private jet carrying him and seven others on Sunday.
Wahlberg had been returning from a New Kids on the Block concert in Las Vegas when the private jet skidded off the runway at Harry Reid International Airport and made contact with the perimeter fence. It was carrying him and seven others.
“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 said in a statement. “There are no known injuries at this time.”
Wahlberg expressed his thoughts about the experience in a social media post on Sunday, thanking God and the pilots for preventing a “serious disaster.”
“Getting a lot of concerned messages and texts about my flight’s failed attempt at leaving Las Vegas this morning,” he wrote in the caption. “I appreciate your concern and well wishes. 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. 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 added.
Wahlberg confirmed the plane never managed to leave the runway until it nearly crashed, narrowly missing trucks and other heavy equipment.
“We’re all okay. I’m okay,” he said. “We were taking off and didn’t get up in the air and ran out of runway. 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.”
“God is good,” he added. “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 further praised God and the emergency responders.
“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 wrote. “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 added. “All glory to God! By His grace, we are all ok.”
