Slow and steady might win the race, but it hasn't helped this turtle in catching a plane in Japan.
A small turtle has caused quite the scene at Tokyo's Narita Airport after wandering onto the runway.
The 30cm red-eared slider, a species of turtle native to the US and widely used as a pet, was spotted slowly meandering across the tarmac, forcing officials to delay five flights from taking off.
While the slimey little fellow caused quite the disturbance, many were happy to see him out of harm's way. The airline even released a statement saying they felt it was a sign of prosperity.
"In Hawaii, sea turtles are seen as bringing good luck, and we hope this turtle that came to see the flight off signals a bright future."
The airport's staff are familiar with having to evacuate stray cats and dogs from the tarmac, but turtles are expectedly an uncommon sighting.
A turtle wandered onto a runway of Japan’s Narita International Airport. Spotted by a pilot, it disrupted airport traffic and five flights were delayed before it was safely captured by airport staff with a net pic.twitter.com/tIxjYaC135
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 30, 2021
Better Turtles On A Runway than Snakes On A Plane, am I right?
Image Credit: MalkyMac at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 | elian, CC BY-SA 3.0 Sandrine Z, CC BY-SA 4.0 | Sandrine Z, CC BY-SA 4.0, all via Wikimedia Commons
