Watch: Alligator Strolls Across Orlando Airport Runway, Delaying Spirit Airlines Flight

The sight of an alligator strolling across the runway at Orlando International Airport greeted the passengers of a Spirit Airlines flight on Monday, giving them the taste of a “typical Florida” morning.

Footage of the predatory reptile was first posted by a Facebook user named Anthony Velardi, and reposted later on the airport’s official Twitter page under a caption that begun with “That’s so Florida!”

Velardi, who had recorded the rare footage, told the Miami Herald he was on a Spirit Airlines flight, which was taxiing along the runway after having flown in from Baltimore-Washington International Airport when the alligator was spotted crossing the grounds ahead. The pilot of the plane made an announcement for the passengers to look out of their plane windows and witness the extraordinary sight.

"It waddled into the pond like it was no big deal," he said. "Looks like someone had TSA PreCheck."

The plane in question had to briefly stop taxiing in order to let the alligator pass on to its natural habitat before continuing, hence experiencing a slight delay. Although none of the passengers onboard the plane seemed to mind the holdup due to the reptile, Velardi said that dangerous incidents surrounding alligators in Florida popping up every now and then in people’s properties left him in a state of shock to witness one inside the airport.

"I definitely believe something has been in the water lately," Velardi said. "Florida is always known for some strange stories but lately there have been an influx of gator stories showing up in people’s yards, attacking a woman and spitting out her arm, and now this. I am a native Floridian and even this shocked me to see that an alligator was on the runway preventing us from getting to the gate."

The Orlando airport is one of the very few aviation facilities that has a biologist and a wildlife expert on their team of staff. Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell told Orlando Sentinel that encounters with wildlife, although not a common occurrence, is bound to happen at times, as the airport covers about 14,000 acres, including more than 200 acres covered in water.

Nevertheless, spotting an alligator strut across their property “does not happen often,” Fennell said. “Obviously, it’s a protected species, so it has the right of way,” she added.

An estimated 5 million American gators live in the southeastern United States and Florida is home to about one-quarter of them. Although no one was injured in this particular instance, alligator attacks have become a common phenomenon in Florida.

Shizuka Matsuki, a Florida woman, was walking her dogs when she went missing. After a thorough search, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found the woman’s body inside a 12-feet-long alligator which was captured and killed, ABC News reported.

"Over the last 10 years, Florida has averaged six unprovoked bites per year that are serious enough to require professional medical treatment,” according to 2017 statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The frequency of attacks tend to increase during the summer months, which is the mating season for alligators and causes them to get territorial, experts said.