A private plane that rapper Post Malone is reportedly aboard is circling southern Connecticut while preparing to make an emergency landing in New York after blowing two of its tires during takeoff in New Jersey Tuesday.
According to flight tracking service flightradar24.com, the confirmed Gulfstream IV jet is circling Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut on the Long Island Sound at 2 p.m. ET.
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Click here to watch the flight’s radar in real time.
The London-bound flight carrying 16 people took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey around 10:50 a.m., according to the Associated Press, when two of its tires blew.
The pilot reportedly immediately realized what had happened and called to air traffic control at Teterboro requesting to circle above the airport, which he did for about 30 minutes before the crew on the ground decided the plane should be rerouted.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to the Associated Press that the plane was rerouted to Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts in order for the plane to burn off fuel so that it could make a safe emergency landing. About an hour later, Westfield-Barnes, Massachusetts, regional airport manager Eric Billowitz s aid the troubled Gulfstream IV was bound for New York Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, about 70 miles north of New York City.
Audio of the pilot’s call to air traffic control can be heard here on TMZ, as well as a video of the grounds crew at Teterboro preparing for the emergency landing before it was decided the plane would be rerouted to Massachusetts.
A source told the New York Daily News that the emergency landing should go off without incident, save for a bit of a bumpy ride. The pilot will have to land on a long runway and put down the rear wheels of the plane first before slowly letting gravity take its course, the source said.
“There will be some sparks, but it should land safely,” according to the source.
According to the Associated Press, Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport is a city-owned airport next to Barnes Air National Guard Base. It has two paved runways, one 9,000 feet long and one 5,000 feet long.
Malone was likely leaving New York City after his Monday night performance at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards with Aerosmith and 21 Savage. He also took home the Moon Person for Song of the Year with “Rockstar.”
Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys tour continues Aug. 24 at the Reading Festival in Reading in the United Kingdom.
