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Weather, low fuel force flight to land at Nellis near Las Vegas

Updated February 16, 2019 - 7:45 pm

An American Airlines flight on its way to McCarran International Airport made an emergency landing at Nellis Air Force Base on Saturday afternoon because of fuel and weather concerns.

American Airlines Flight 671 was diverted to the base because of wind conditions at the airport and low fuel levels, Nellis spokeswoman Rebekah Mattes said. The plane then took off for McCarran International Airport, where it landed at about 3:50 p.m., said airport spokeswoman Gabriela Muro.

Mattes said the weather caused a delay in the landing, and the plane needed to land at Nellis to refuel.

American Airlines spokesman Josh Freed said there was no fuel leak, and the airplane had enough fuel to get to McCarran, but it needed to refuel after it was diverted to Nellis.

“The reason for the diversion was weather,” he said.

Muro said the flight appeared to be the only plane diverted from landing at the airport on Saturday afternoon.

The airplane, which was on its way to Las Vegas from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, had 194 people on board, including six crew members, Freed said. The plane was scheduled to land at the Las Vegas airport at about 1:40 p.m., according to the airline’s website.

The plane landed at Nellis at about 2:15 p.m., Freed said.

The National Weather Service said winds at the airport were gusting at about 20 mph at the airport between 1:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.

“Mostly it was just breezy,” meteorologist Chelsea Kryston said.

She said weather conditions can cause an airplane diversion when the wind direction is not favorable for planes to land.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.

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