This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Air traffic at America's busiest international airport has been disrupted after turtles wandered on to the runway in search of a sandy beach to lay their eggs.

The turtles began their stately passage across John F Kennedy airport in New York on Wednesday morning, undeterred by the potentially lethal obstacles between their seasonal breeding grounds.

The creatures delayed flights, shut down a runway and forced staff outside to hurry the slow-moving animals to safer ground. Runway 4L was shut down for an hour as Port Authority teams worked to move the animals, the New York Post reported.

"We may have a few delays, but nothing significant," said the FAA.

Several pilots had to deal with the unexpected obstacles, just as rush hour was starting at JFK, a radio recording on LiveATC.net revealed.

"Be advised 30 feet into the takeoff roll, left side of the centreline, there's another turtle," warned 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.

JetBlue reported the turtle migration on Twitter around 9.40am. "Running over turtles is not healthy for them nor is it good for our tyres," the airline said.

The migration of diamondback terrapin turtles happens every year at Kennedy, reported the Boston Globe. The airport is on the edge of Jamaica Bay and a protected natural area. Each year, in late June or early July, the animals heave themselves out of the bay and head towards a beach to lay their eggs.

"The sandy spot on the other side of Runway 4L is ideal for egg laying," the Port Authority said. "It is a naturally provided turtle maternity ward. When your airport is virtually surrounded by water, your neighbours sometimes come in the hard shell variety."

In 2009, the call of mother nature proved too much for the airport, which had to be shut down briefly after at least 78 turtles left Jamaica Bay and made their way on to the runway.

Staff managed to finally remove the creatures from the runway but only after the turtles managed to slow the airport to their pace, causing delays of nearly two hours.