Two Santa Barbara Airport employees reportedly had minor injuries after a jet bridge collapsed Tuesday morning. No passengers were on the jet bridge at the time.
Two Santa Barbara Airport employees reportedly had minor injuries after a jet bridge collapsed Tuesday morning. No passengers were on the jet bridge at the time. Credit: Santa Barbara Airport photo

Officials at the Santa Barbara Airport say Tuesday’s passenger bridge collapse was an accident, and there are no signs of problems with the airport’s other bridges.

On Tuesday, a jet bridge at the airport’s Gate Two collapsed, injuring two of the airport’s crew members. The two crew members were transferred to Cottage Hospital with minor injuries and have since been released, according to Lauren Gonzalez, the airport’s marketing coordinator.

The airport said in a statement Wednesday that the early results of the investigation show that the collapse was an isolated incident. The investigation is still ongoing. 

“Our initial findings are obvious that it was an accident,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said airport staff have conducted inspections of the other passenger bridges to ensure they are safe.

“This is the first time something like this has happened at Santa Barbara Airport, and we are taking the steps to determine what the exact cause was,” said Chris Hastert, Santa Barbara Airport director, in a statement. “It appears to be an isolated incident, but the safety of our passengers and our staff remain our number one priority.” 

No passengers were injured in the collapse since the gate was closed to the public at the time. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning, just before 9:30, while crews were conducting maintenance on the bridge.

The incident did not affect airport travel, and officials say it will not impact future operations.