Several attempts to clear the bees failed.
A swarm of bees formed on one of the plane's wingtips, causing a Delta Air Lines trip to be delayed for over five hours. The swarm left after Delta simply pulled the airplane back after several unsuccessful attempts to move the bees elsewhere.
Bee swarm grounds Delta flight
The swarm chose to establish a temporary home on the'sharklets' of a Delta Airbus A320 at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), in one of the more odd aviation accidents you'll read about this year. Unfortunately, this resulted in a nearly five-hour delay for passengers as Delta and airport staff struggled to get rid of the bees. Anjali Enjeti, one of the passengers, tweeted live updates of the incident.
Soon after the plane entered the gate, the bees reportedly attached themselves to it. The drama was playing out in full view of the passengers, who were unable to even board the aircraft and would eventually take considerably longer than anticipated.
Why was it so long?
For a number of reasons, Delta and airport staff had trouble shaking the bees. Initially, a pest controller was requested, but the captain warned the passengers that he would not be permitted to spray the aircraft. A specialist beekeeper was then requested, but they couldn't have touched the aircraft, thus they never showed up.
The captain continued by stating that neither the fire department nor a hose were accessible at the airport to use to spray the bees with water. The pilot said that they would try to taxi the aircraft in the hopes that this would send the bees on their way after all other alternatives had been exhausted.
In a statement, Delta claimed that by pushing the plane back, the "friendly" bees dispersed, allowing the bees to be removed. Although it is unclear whether the aircraft's engines were involved, it meant that the flight could finally continue after the unexpected delay. Because of the entire situation, passengers had to wait almost five hours to board the flight, which departed at 17:02 (the intended departure time was 12:25) and arrived in Atlanta at 19:32.
Close up of the bees on the wing pic.twitter.com/XodD4Z2kgi
— Anjali Enjeti (she/her) (@AnjaliEnjeti) May 3, 2023
My flight leaving Houston is delayed because bees have congregated on the tip of one of the wings. 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? pic.twitter.com/DhodBz0m5n
— Anjali Enjeti (she/her) (@AnjaliEnjeti) May 3, 2023
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