Flights at New York's John F Kennedy Airport crawled to a
halt for over an hour this morning - thanks to a bale of breeding
turtles.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it
was forced to shut down runway 4 Left at 9:30am
as workers cleared 100 diamondback
terrapins from the tarmac and moved them to
safety.
But officials have brushed off the turtle invasion, insisting
delays were 'nothing significant'.
FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said some flights were delayed
up to 30 minutes.
She told the New York Post: 'We may have a
few delays, but nothing significant,' noting the runway is not
frequently used this time of year due to changes in wind
direction.
JetBlue reported the news with a series of light-hearted
posts on its official Twitter account at approximately
9:40am.
One tweet read: 'Running over turtles is not healthy for them
nor is it good for our tires.'
The turtle invasion is an annual event at the Queens airport
and had already delayed several flights at JFK earlier this week as
females crawled out of Jamaica Bay in search of higher ground to
lay their eggs, reports the Post.
Port Authority spokesman John Kelly said: 'The sandy spot on the
other side of Runway 4L is ideal for egg laying
'It is a naturally provided turtle maternity ward. When your
airport is virtually surrounded by water, your neighbours sometimes
come in the hard shell variety.'
Clearing the animals, however, has not always been such a
swift process.
In July 2009, 78 turtles crawled out of the bay and onto the
tarmac, causing delays of up to two hours.
