Swarm of Bees Covering Airplane Wing at IAH Delays Delta Flight From Houston
May 3—A Delta Air Lines flight in Houston was delayed Wednesday afternoon after the airplane was swarmed by some unticketed passengers.
Twitter user Anjali Enjeti documented her delayed trip from Bush Intercontinental Airport to Atlanta, which hit unexpected turbulence when thousands of bees covered the airplane wing, preventing travelers from boarding the plane.
According to Enjeti, the captain reportedly announced multiple hurdles stood in the way of clearing the bee-sieged wing: a bee keeper was not allowed to touch the airplane, pest control was not allowed to spray the airplane and the airport was not able to spray the bees with water.
Enjeti said shortly after 2:30 p.m., Delta decided to move the plane so another flight could use the gate. The bees reportedly departed once the plane's engine was turned on.
In a statement Wednesday night, Delta said the flight was delayed nearly three hours while the "friendly" bees were removed. The bees were removed by pushing the plane back, which caused the insects to fly away. The 92 passengers were then allowed onto the flight, which reached Atlanta with no other problems.
Last year, millions of honeybees died on a Delta Air Lines flight when a plane traveling from California to Alaska was diverted to Atlanta, where bees were left in crates for hours while the plane waited in the heat. In that incident, the bees were, in fact, ticketed passengers. Alaska beekeepers were expecting to receive a $48,000 shipment of bees.
___
(c)2023 the Houston Chronicle
Visit the Houston Chronicle at www.chron.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
