The San Diego River overflowed on New Year's Day. K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images San Diego Airport faced significant disruption due to flooding and an equipment outage. Dozens of flights were canceled or diverted, and over 130 were delayed. A flight from Japan had to divert to Los Angeles before taking off again hours later. Thousands of people flying into or out of San Diego on New Year's Day had their travel plans disrupted after a rainstorm hit the city. Data from Flightradar24 showed 40 flights headed for San Diego International Airport decided to land elsewhere on January 1. There were enough diversions that air traffic control activated a recovery tool to help planes reach their intended destinations. Another 53 flights into or out of the airport were canceled, plus nearly 270 were delayed, according to data from FlightAware. That meant around 40% of the flights were behind schedule. A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told Business Insider it slowed inbound flights "due to poor visibility and weather conditions," and to perform maintenance on an instrument landing system's glide slope. A glide slope emits a radio signal that helps planes approach a runway from the correct angle and location, which is particularly useful in bad weather or at night. An air traffic control advisory also said the disruption was due to an"equipment outage." In a post on X, the airport said the weather was causing flight delays, with some nearby roads closed due to flooding. The airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside local working hours. San Diego is the third-busiest airport in California. It reported handling over 25 million passengers in 2024. While many of the diverted flights eventually made it to San Diego, it was likely a frustrating day for many travellers. Japan Airlines Flight 66 had flown about 10 hours from Tokyo to San Diego. After circling around the airport, it diverted to Los Angeles, a 30-minute flight away. Just over two hours later, the Boeing 787 took off again and completed the short flight down to San Diego. The airline didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Some Southwest Airlines passengers departing Sacramento had a two-hour flight to nowhere. Flight 3138 spent an hour circling north of Los Angeles before returning to its origin, per flight-tracking data. It later took off again and reached San Diego about five hours behind schedule. While most flights were able to divert elsewhere in California, around a dozen of them diverted to Phoenix. A Southwest flight from Baltimore spent about an hour circling just west of the Arizona state capital before touching down there. It was on the ground for over three hours before continuing on to San Diego, landing roughly five hours later than planned. A Southwest spokesperson said the airline canceled about 20 flights and diverted some others that later arrived in San Diego. "Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees," they added. Two private jets, flying from Colorado ski resorts, didn't have to divert too far — they were the only ones able to land at McClellan-Palomar Airport in northern San Diego County, per Flightradar24. Read the original article on Business Insider