Bear On Runway Prompts Flight Cancellations At Airport
A bear roaming the runway forced a Japanese airport to cancel flights on Thursday and declare itself off-limits to passengers for the day.
The black bear appeared at northern Japan’s Yamagata Airport, immediately prompting the closure of its runway. The bear, which was about four feet tall, was first spotted near the runway at around 7 a.m. on Thursday, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.
This first sighting resulted in a delay of up to an hour of four flights, before the animal reemerged around noon, this time “running” on the runway.
Airport staff used a car to chase it away and closed the runway again, with the bear still at large somewhere in the facility.
“Given the situation there is no way we can host plane arrivals now,” Yamagata Airport official Akira Nagai told AFP Thursday evening, adding the second closure led to 12 flight cancellations.
Tagged: Animals BACK TO HOMEPAGE