American Airlines A319 Declares PAN-PAN, Diverts to SFO After Gear Issue
An American Airlines (AA) Airbus A319 operating a short domestic hop from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) diverted to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Thursday after the crew reported difficulty extending the landing gear.
The flight, AA1866, departed PHX in the early evening with 90 people onboard. During the approach into MRY, the crew initiated a go-around after receiving indications that the landing gear had not deployed as expected.
With Monterey’s runway and on-site resources more limited than those at a major hub, the crew declared PAN-PAN—signaling an urgent situation requiring priority handling, but not an immediate life-threatening emergency—and diverted north to SFO. En route, the pilots used alternate procedures and subsequently received normal landing-gear indications.
AA1866 landed safely at SFO, where emergency services inspected the aircraft on the runway. The A319 was then towed to a gate after landing due to an associated systems issue affecting nosewheel steering.
American re-accommodated passengers following the diversion while maintenance teams assessed the aircraft.
Bottom Line
American Airlines flight AA1866 diverted from Monterey (MRY) to San Francisco (SFO) after the crew reported a landing gear extension issue on approach. The pilots declared PAN-PAN, extended the gear using alternate procedures, and landed safely, with the aircraft later towed for inspection and troubleshooting.
