JFK airport runway invaded by spawning turtles
Source: Agencies |
July 1, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ABOUT 150 turtles crawled onto the tarmac at New York's Kennedy airport on Wednesday in search of beaches to lay their eggs, delaying dozens of flights, aviation authorities said.
The slow-motion stampede began at about 6:45am, and within three hours there were so many turtles on Runway 4L and nearby taxiways that controllers were forced to move departing flights to another runway.
"We ceded to Mother Nature," said Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Workers from the Port Authority and the US Department of Agriculture were scooping up turtles and moving them across the airport, he said. Flight delayed averaged about 30 minutes, the FAA said.
The migration of diamondback terrapin turtles happens every year at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which is built on the edge of Jamaica Bay. In late June or early July the animals heave themselves out of the bay and head toward a beach to lay their eggs. The peak of the migration usually lasts a few days, Marsico said.
Several pilots, some of them stifling chuckles, began reporting turtles on Runway 4L just as the morning rush hour was beginning at JFK, according to a radio recording posted on LiveATC.net.
American Airlines and JetBlue, each has a hub at JFK, both said there were no major disruptions to their flights.
"We hope for faster animals next time," JetBlue said in a statement.
Wayward wildlife is a serious concern at JFK and nearby LaGuardia Airport, which both sit on shorelines populated by geese, turtles, ducks, frogs and other animals.
The slow-motion stampede began at about 6:45am, and within three hours there were so many turtles on Runway 4L and nearby taxiways that controllers were forced to move departing flights to another runway.
"We ceded to Mother Nature," said Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Workers from the Port Authority and the US Department of Agriculture were scooping up turtles and moving them across the airport, he said. Flight delayed averaged about 30 minutes, the FAA said.
The migration of diamondback terrapin turtles happens every year at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which is built on the edge of Jamaica Bay. In late June or early July the animals heave themselves out of the bay and head toward a beach to lay their eggs. The peak of the migration usually lasts a few days, Marsico said.
Several pilots, some of them stifling chuckles, began reporting turtles on Runway 4L just as the morning rush hour was beginning at JFK, according to a radio recording posted on LiveATC.net.
American Airlines and JetBlue, each has a hub at JFK, both said there were no major disruptions to their flights.
"We hope for faster animals next time," JetBlue said in a statement.
Wayward wildlife is a serious concern at JFK and nearby LaGuardia Airport, which both sit on shorelines populated by geese, turtles, ducks, frogs and other animals.
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