WEST COLUMBIA — A Delta Air Lines flight from Columbia Metropolitan Airport to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport was diverted back to Columbia over the weekend.

Flight-tracking websites FlightAware and Flightradar24 show Delta Air Lines flight DL5089, operated by regional carrier Endeavor Air, left its gate around 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, circled east of Richmond, Virginia, and returned to Columbia around midnight.

“I have confirmed with Delta. DL5089 did return to CAE due to the shutdown,” said Kim Crafton, the airport’s vice president of marketing and air service development, referring to the federal government shutdown that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order airlines to cut flight schedules at dozens of major airports.

In a social media post that drew hundreds of

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