Roadways around Los Angeles’ busiest airport are no stranger to traffic jams, but backups are not normally caused by a boat.
Yet that’s exactly what happened in the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel near LAX on Friday afternoon.
The boat was being towed on an “oversize load” trailer and had made some progress into the tunnel before getting wedged in between the trailer and the ceiling.
“The vessel’s sheer size proved too much for the tunnel’s clearance, causing a traffic standstill,” Los Angeles Airport Police said. “Quick-thinking LAXPD officers had to close down the affected lanes, carefully maneuver the boat in reverse and eventually guide it back onto Imperial Highway.”
LAXPD added that the “unusual” incident left commuters “both bewildered and amused as they watched [the] nautical mishap unfold in an unexpected urban setting.”
Video posted on social media shows the stuck boat and trailer in the center lane of the northbound span of the tunnel around 1:45 p.m. Friday; motorists were forced to pick a side to go around the stuck boat.
Social media users were quick to comment on the situation, with some saying that “someone is ‘sooo’ fired” while others opted for solutions such as “lower the tire pressure and keep it pushing” and even “someone get the butter.”
It is not known who floated the idea of taking the boat into the tunnel in the first place.