Get the shell out of the way!
Sex-crazed turtles shut down a runway at Kennedy Airport this morning as they crawled across the tarmac heading for their seasonal breeding grounds.
Runway 4L was shut down starting about 9:30 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Port Authority workers were still working an hour later to move the slowpokes to safer ground.
“We may have a few delays, but nothing significant,” said FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac.
JetBlue reported the turtle incursion on Twitter around 9:40 a.m.
“Running over turtles is not healthy for them nor is it good for our tires,” the airline said.
“Be advised 30 feet into the takeoff roll, left side of the centerline, there’s another turtle,” called the pilot of American Airlines Flight 1009, a Boeing 767 that had just taken off for the Dominican Republic.
“There’s another one on the runway?” asked the controller.
“Uh, well he was there,” the pilot said as the plane climbed into the air.
Turtles also delayed several flights earlier this week.
The turtle invasion is an annual event at Kennedy. They’re in the middle of their spawning season, when the females crawl out of Jamaica Bay onto the runway in search of higher ground to lay their eggs.
“The sandy spot on the other side of Runway 4L is ideal for egg laying,” PA spokesman John Kelly said. “It is a naturally provided turtle maternity ward. When your airport is virtually surrounded by water, your neighbors sometimes come in the hard shell variety.”
In July 2009, a runway at JFK was shut down briefly after at least 78 turtles emerged from nearby Jamaica Bay and crawled onto the tarmac.
Ground crews eventually rounded up the reptiles and deposited them back in the water, but not before the incident disrupted JFK’s flight schedule and contributed to delays that reached nearly two hours.