NEW YORK _ Departing flights at LaGuardia Airport were stopped early Friday because of a shortage of air traffic controllers, NBC New York reported.
The shutdown was ordered just before 10 a.m., and also affected certain arriving flights.
"@LGAairport @LGAairport We have been sitting on the tarmac for 50 mins because of staff shortages in air traffic control. Flight landed 45 mins early too!" a Twitter user named Stacey Carey posted.
The government shutdown is now 35 days old, the longest in history, with no sign of lifting.
Spokespeople for the Port Authority could not be reached. Spokespeople for the Federal Aviation Administration were on furlough because of the shutdown.
