Yes, you heard that right. Bees decided to throw a party on the plane's wing, and boy, did they cause some trouble.
Naturally, Delta had to step in and play mediator between the bees and the flight. I mean, who wouldn't want to negotiate with a bunch of bees? The result? Delayed flight, my dear reader. Instead of jetting off from Houston at the oh-so-punctual time of 12:25 p.m. Eastern, they had to wait until around 4:30 p.m. Talk about quality bee time.
Oh, but don't worry, the Delta spokesperson had a field day with their statement. "Bee-lieve it or not," they said, as if this were a daily occurrence, "Delta flight 1682 from Houston-Bush to Atlanta took a delay this afternoon after a friendly group of bees evidently wanted to talk shop with the winglet of our airplanes, no doubt to share the latest about flying conditions at the airport."
Oh, how delightful! Just what every airline dreams of—an insect-infested rendezvous on their aircraft.
CBS reported that a passenger on the flight tweeted about the event, from the initial discovery of the bees and a blow-by-blow of the event, including the idea of calling a bee keeper to remove the insects.
"My flight leaving Houston is delayed because bees have congregated on the tip of one of the wings," wrote Anjali Enjeti, a journalist and author, on Twitter, who also posted a photo of the bee-swarmed wing. "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?
Close up of the bees on the wing pic.twitter.com/XodD4Z2kgi
— Anjali Enjeti (she/her) (@AnjaliEnjeti) May 3, 2023
However, the beekeeper was never called because they weren't allowed to touch the airplane, while pest control wasn't permitted to spray the plane, Enjeti wrote, citing an update of the situation by the pilot.
"Would have a big highlight of my life to see a bee keeper de-bee a plane wing. It's going to be hard to let go of this. The disappointment is real," she added.
At another point, she noted that the airline tried blowing exhaust on the swarm. "Bees were not impressed," she wrote.
So, there you have it, folks. A real buzz-worthy incident that turned an ordinary flight into an unexpected bee extravaganza. Who needs smooth takeoffs when you can have bees swarming your wings?
Ah, the wonders of air travel never cease to amaze.
