Alligator Stops Flight From Arriving At Orlando International Airport
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ORLANDO, FL (CBS Local) - Airline passengers are always prepared to hear about delays at the airport, but customers on a Spirit Airlines flight probably weren't expecting to hear that an alligator was keeping them from getting to their destination.
Passengers at Orlando International Airport were kept waiting as the massive road block camped out on the runway for a flight that was rolling in from Baltimore–Washington International Airport. "Believe it or not, we have to wait for an alligator that's in the middle of the runway," the Spirit pilot said, via WKMG.
That's so Florida! Pilots of a Spirit flight departing MCO today had to pause on the taxiway and give right of way to a local resident out for a morning stroll. Passengers caught a rare glimpse of an alligator trudging from one pond to the next. ???? pic.twitter.com/xK12ydomLX
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) June 11, 2018
"Only in Florida... a gator held up our Spirit Airlines plane crossing the runway at MCO on the way home from DC," passenger Anthony Velardi wrote on Facebook, while taking video of the gator as it returned to a nearby pond. Video of the June 11 airport visitor has been viewed over 11,000 times since the Flight 389's unusual delay.
Orlando International had to send a truck out to encourage the loitering reptile to find somewhere else to sit besides an active runway.
Despite waiting patiently for the gator to go take a swim, Spirit Airlines reports that the flight still arrived in Orlando 17 minutes early.