Passengers get stuck in plane as staff struggle with huge swarm of bees
A plane was grounded when a swarm of bees stopped passengers from boarding.
The Delta Air Lines flight got stuck on the runway at Houston on Wednesday afternoon due to the un-ticketed passengers.
The yellow and black striped bugs decided to latch onto the aircraft's wing at the Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Twitter user Anjali Enjeti explained how travellers had been locked out of the cabin by the bees.
"My flight leaving Houston is delayed because bees have congregated on the tip of one of the wings," she wrote.
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"They won’t let us board until they remove the bees. But how on earth will this happen? Won’t they leave the wing when we take off?"
The captain reportedly told passengers that there were a number of issues stopping the bees from being cleared; for example, a bee keeper was not allowed the touch the plane while a pest control expert was forbidden from spraying the craft.
The airport was also unable to spray the plane with water for safety reasons.
The problem was resolved at around 2.30pm when the plane was moved to make way for another aircraft, prompting the bees to buzz off.
The flight was delayed by nearly three hours before the bees were removed, Delta said.
The bees moved on from the plane (stock photo) (Getty Images)Closer to home, eight aircraft were stopped from taking off in July 2021 in the UK due to wasps and bees.
On several occasions insects' nest blocked ‘pitot probes’ on craft, stopping the crew's ability to properly measure plane speed.
Seven of the planes belonged to British Airways while one was Virgin Atlantic, according to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AIIB).
The organisation said at the time: "A disrupted natural habitat can make it harder for solitary bees and wasps to find suitable locations to nest and is likely to result in them adapting whatever is available to them to use in urban areas."
Bees usually swarm when the queen leaves the hive for a new home and settles with the rest of the bees around her while she waits for the new location.
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The Mirror reported on a similar incident back in 2020 when two flights were delayed after the planes were swarmed by the same bees.
The swarm settled on a pair of Vistara Airlines aircrafts, which were parked in the same bay of Kolkata airport in India 16 hours apart.
In both instances, it reportedly caused a delay of an hour, and water hoses were needed to drive the bees away.
A swarm of bees on the wing of the plane in Rio de Janeiro (CEN)Earlier this year a flight was grounded while on the tarmac preparing for departure, after the aircraft was overwhelmed by a huge swarm of bees.
The LATAM airlines plane - from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo in Brazil - had been scheduled to take off at 10.30am on 17th January.
But as passengers were getting ready to board, the swarm settled on the aircraft's port wing near one of the engines.
Safety officials finally cancelled the flight after 1pm, when it became clear that the bees would not move.
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