NEW YORK » If passengers on a delayed flight from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, got a bit crabby, no one could really say they were being too shellfish.

Their flight left LaGuardia Airport about a half-hour late Thursday evening because some live crabs got loose in the cargo hold.

US Airways spokeswoman Liz Landau said Friday it’s unclear how the fairly small crustaceans escaped their container or what species they were. She says there were "more than a few" of them.

It’s unknown who was shipping them. The airline carries various cargo shipments, along with passengers’ luggage.

Workers swept the crabs out of the hold, and the flight went on its way.