A masked bandit sent Spirit Airlines passengers scurrying at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Monday, when a raccoon was spotted busting through a ceiling tile.
Video shows the raccoon dangling from a cord from inside a ceiling tile next to the Spirit Airlines counter. It soon takes a nosedive, landing on the ground and sending airline personnel and passengers alike into a frenzy as they ran away.
As screams filled the budget airline’s terminal, another video showed someone was carrying what seemed to be a trash can in an effort to catch the raccoon.
This raccoon rendezvous occurred around 8 a.m., after which the raccoon was safely removed, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement to NBC News.
Airport staff is working closely with a professional wildlife control company to monitor the area, identify potential entry points and implement necessary precautions to prevent future incidents, the agency said.
Spirit Airlines confirmed that there were no injuries reported.
LaGuardia was recently rated one of the best airports in the country after an $8 billion renovation, a major turnaround for a hub that was once labeled by then Vice President Joe Biden as looking like it belonged in a “third-world country.”
But the renovations didn’t include the scene of the stowaway critter: the airport’s Terminal A.