Hundreds of travelers experienced delays at Orlando International Airport Wednesday morning when the remains of an armadillo were found on a runway.
According to an MCO spokesperson, at approximately 7 a.m., “a Southwest Airlines flight was arriving at Orlando International Airport (MCO) when the pilots discovered that an armadillo had been previously hit on the runway.” Airport protocol demanded the runway be closed temporarily while the armadillo bits were removed.
Orlando International Airport Airfield Ops Wildlife Division (cool job alert!) showed up and removed the animal remains. Unfortunately, “routine maintenance and construction” was happening on two other runways at the same time, resulting in there being only one operational runway for approximately 20 minutes.
As 7 a.m. is one of the busiest times at MCO, that had a cascading effect that caused delays on 43 flights lasting between 30-60 minutes
Contrary to some rumors flying around (heh), airport staff stresses that “there was NO bird strike at MCO.”
_____
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter