A crane that fell onto the northbound San Diego Freeway just before the Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks about 1 pm has the area a big Friday afternoon mess. The crane operator has been extricated and flown to a hospital, but as of a few minutes ago emergency crews were still being advised to back in to the scene via the Ventura. Traffic snarls are extending to surface streets, of course. Traffic is being diverted off the freeway at Mulholland, but just before 3 pm an alert went over the CHP incident ticker that the intersection of Mulholland and Beverly Glen has been backed up for an hour with no officers directing traffic. Have fun out there....

Reopened: Northbound 405 lanes opened at 3:59 pm, but the transition lanes to the 101 — always the biggest backup at that interchange, even on the best days — remain closed indefinitely.

Edited with new facts