Turtles Shut Down Runway at JFK Airport
Airport officials counted 78 turtles
By MICHAEL HOROWICZ
Updated 4:46 AM PDT, Thu, Jul 9, 2009
Passengers coming into and leaving from JFK airport have put up with all kinds of delays -- weather, late connections, crowded airspace -- but this delay may have been a first.
One runway was shut down Wednesday morning because 78 turtles were walking on it.
According to the Port Authority, the turtles measured about 8 inches long and weighed 2 to 3 pounds.
They were eventually shooed away and returned to the Jamaica wetlands from whence they came. But there were delays of up to an hour.
The turtles also caused delays at La Guardia. NBC News correspondent Anne Thompson, who was on a flight from Raleigh to La Guardia, reports that the pilot on her flight announced that all flights were delayed throughout the New York area because of crowded airspace caused by the wayward reptiles.
First Published: Jul 8, 2009 2:37 PM PDT on NBC New York
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