What’s the strangest reason you’ve had a flight get delayed? Not weather, not even staff shortages, I’m talking just bizarre situations. I’ll never forget being 16 and heading to the Bahamas for spring break. We only got to be there for a few quick days (thanks to competitive dance life) and I couldn’t get there fast enough. After taking off late due to having to restock ice before departure and then delays on the runway, we finally touched down in Nassau. A few minutes later the pilot comes over the speaker and lets us know that there is a bee hive at the gate we were supposed to use. So we have to wait for another gate to open up. A beehive. In typical teenager fashion, I was irritated, to say the least.
Then another gate opened up. In which the pilot missed the gate. Yes, apparently that is possible. We had to wait for some sort of apparatus to come to push the plane to where we could deboard. I was there and I don’t believe it. And while ice, bees, and missing the gate are one heck of a story and an uncommon occurrence, this story out of Florida is just as crazy. Of course, it’s Florida. It’s always Florida.
An Armadillo Delays Dozens Of Flights
According to a Tampa news station WFLA, there were dozens of flights delayed at Orlando International Airport (MCO) Wednesday morning. This was after an armadillo was found deceased on one of the airport’s runways. I just recently learned armadillos are in North Carolina, and today learned that they are in Florida. WFLA reports that officials with Southwest Airlines spotted the animal and upon first glance believed it to be a type of bird. A closer examination revealed it was an armadillo which was confirmed by the FAA. Officers with the Florida Airfield Ops Wildlife Division came to clean up the scene. According to WFLA, 43 flights were delayed about an hour while the incident was taking place.
While I certainly wasn’t expecting a beehive to delay my arrival in Nassau years ago, I think I’d be even more perplexed if an armadillo was responsible for my flight delay. Can you top this? What’s the strangest reason you have had a flight delayed?
Read the full story from WFLA here.