Flights to San Francisco diverted

Story highlights

Accident occurs during the busy U.S. holiday weekend

Flights to San Francisco are diverted to other airports

Asiana set up a hot-line for passenger families

CNN  — 

The crash landing of an Asiana Airlines flight at San Francisco International Airport temporarily shut down operations there on Saturday, forcing flights to be diverted to other airports.

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'Large, brief fireball' as plane landed
01:42 - Source: CNN
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Plane loses tail during crash landing
03:15 - Source: KTVU

Planes were diverted to airports in Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and Los Angeles, said Francis Zamora, a San Francisco Department of Emergency Management official.

In an official tweet later that day, the San Francisco airport said that two of its runways had reopened. Its website advised passengers to check with airlines for updated departure and arrival information.

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The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday evening said some arriving flights were being delayed by nearly three hours.

Cathay Pacific on Sunday was one of several international carriers to advise that some of its flights to and from San Francisco International airport may be affected.

All passengers set to fly to or from the airport should check with their airlines on their flight status.

San Jose International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, in Twitter messages, advised passengers to check with their airlines for updated flight information.

Asiana Airlines crash landing: Latest developments

A total of 23 departing flights to San Francisco and 16 arrivals from that city were confirmed to be canceled, Los Angeles International Airport said. Five international flights destined from San Francisco landed at LAX.

American Airlines told affected passengers that they may change flights. If people were traveling through San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday and tickets were issued no later than Saturday, passengers may travel Monday through Wednesday. A ticket reissue charge will be waived for one ticket change.

Southwest Airlines tweeted, “Our thoughts are with @AsianaAirlines and their passengers. @FlySFO is currently closed. Visit http://southwest.com to check flight status.”

Asiana, based in Seoul, is one of South Korea’s two major airlines. In addition to domestic flights in South Korea, the 25-year-old airline operates in 23 other countries, according to Asiana’s website. The company set up a hotline for passenger families: +82-226-694-221

Why crash was survivable

CNN’s Phil Gast, K.J. Kwon, Joe Sterling and Monte Plott contributed to this report