Passengers awaiting an early morning flight at New York‘s LaGuardia airport were surprised by the sudden arrival of an unexpected extra flyer: a raccoon who fell through a terminal ceiling and proceeded to cause mayhem at a departure gate.
Video of the animal’s abrupt appearance at a Spirit Airlines gate inside the airport’s Marine air terminal, and almost comical efforts to capture it in a giant transparent trash can, was posted to social media by an observer.
The raccoon is seen at first clinging to what appears to be electrical wiring dangling beneath a ceiling tile, then scampering behind a check-in desk. Anxious staff attempt to chase it, while other people are seen running away at speed.
Accompanying audio captured the chaos of the moment: a barking dog, people screaming and an alarm siren blaring.
can’t make this up 😭😭 https://t.co/HbkNatHCJr pic.twitter.com/Wh8kBHHwRT
— Ahmad Anonimis 🏔️ (@AhmadAnonimis) November 4, 2024
“This is both the most LaGuardia thing and the most Spirit Airlines thing to happen. Perfect,” another X user, identified as Kaitlynn Lwoso, posted.
The raccoon fell through the ceiling shortly after 8am Monday at the tiny, six-gate terminal used only by the discount airlines Spirit and Frontier, according to the Gothamist, which first reported the incident.
A spokesperson for the Port Authority told the outlet that an investigation was under way into how the raccoon got there, while Spirit said in a statement that it had engaged a “professional wildlife control company” to try to avoid any similar future incidents.
The airport, the Gothamist said, was regularly slated at the turn of the century for its “run-down passenger facilities and leaky ceilings”. In 2014, the then vice-president, Joe Biden, addressing broken infrastructure in the US, called LaGuardia “like a third world country”.
Authorities embarked on upgrades and refurbishment in the decade since, but the Marine air terminal, also known as Terminal A, was not included in the renovation. It is listed in the national register of historic places.
As unusual as the LaGuardia raccoon’s appearance was, it was far from unprecedented. In July 2023, a raccoon “ran rampant” through a baggage hall at Philadelphia international airport after emerging from a baggage chute, ABC6 News reported.
Nobody was injured in either incident, and neither raccoon was captured.
This article by Richard Luscombe was first published by The Guardian on 6 November 2024. Lead Image: A fellow New York raccoon in 2021. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA.
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