BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Country music artist Miranda Lambert took in the sights of West Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, specifically from the North Central West Virginia Airport, after an unexpected landing.
“The plane that they were on lost cabin pressure,” according to Scott Poling, a lineman at the airport. “We don’t know why. They landed here safely with no problems and hung out in our [fixed base operator] for about two hours. A Learjet was sent up here from Nashville to pick them back up.”
While waiting for the aircraft, Lambert took the time to relax and meet the people there.
“She’s super down-to-earth, doesn’t act like a celebrity, a country girl,” Poling said. “They put on our fire suits inside here to promote their new album ‘Platinum,’ which I have pictures of. She autographed a couple of CDs for me and my buddies here. It was pretty cool.”
Lambert and her team were there from roughly 4:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., when the Learjet picked them up.
Social media in the area was abuzz at 9 p.m. when Lambert posted a picture in the fire suits with an explanation of the situation to her Instagram account.
“Our plane had an emergency landing in Clarksburg WV. But don’t worry, we found platinum fire suits,” Lambert wrote with her Instagram photo.
Poling said, by his estimate, 30 people showed up to the airport after the fact to try and catch a glimpse of the star.
“I was just checking stuff on my Twitter account and I saw that people were asking about if Miranda was here,” he said. “She was long gone back to Nashville, safely back in Nashville.”
The subtle detour was ideal for both parties as crowds were comprised of the normal traffic passing through the FBO.
“She was really happy. She thanked us several times,” Poling said. “Her staff thanked us several times for what we did for them here and they sat back, had a good time, relaxed and waited until the jet arrived and said it was beautiful here in West Virginia.”
Lambert’s fifth studio album “Platinum” was released on Tuesday.