There are many reasons for delays at airports. Sometimes it's bad weather, sometimes it's technical problem, and other times it's passenger who is late to boarding gate. Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan has added new cause of flight delays - turtle going for walk. The runway at Narita had to close for 12 minutes because 2.1-kilogram turtle was spotted on tarmac. The pilot of airplane waiting to take off told air traffic controllers about small reptile at around 11:35am. There was immediate search for it. This caused delay of five flights. Airport staff managed to locate creature. They safely removed it with net. They reported that it was unharmed.
Narita Airport spokesperson said she believed turtle lived in nearby pond. It managed to get under fence alongside airport and crawl onto runway. The turtle might have decided to sunbathe because of warm weather. It was lot warmer than usual at the airport for the time of year. Shortly after the turtle was caught, A380 airplane took off from runway. By coincidence, A380 was painted in turtle design. plane was from the Japanese airline ANA. It was going to island of Okinawa in south of Japan. An ANA spokesperson said: "Turtles are seen as bringing good luck. We hope this turtle, who came to see flight off, signals a bright future."
