A swarm of bees clung to a parked Delta Air Lines aircraft on Wednesday and caused a flight from Houston to Atlanta to be delayed for about three hours.
Twitter user Anjali Enjeti shared a photo of a group of bees that had congregated on a wingtip. She noted crews wouldn’t let passengers board until the swarm was removed.
The swarm can be seen covering the upper half of the wingtip, entirely concealing the blue color of the piece in the photo below.
Enjeti explained in a Twitter thread that crews hoped to bring in a beekeeper but, according to the flight’s captain, they wouldn’t be allowed to touch the airplane. For similar reasons, the plane couldn’t be sprayed by pest control and a hose wasn’t available to spray them off.
The captain then told passengers he was “going to taxi the plane and hope the bees leave,” Enjeti wrote.
After the flight crew deplaned, ground equipment was used to push the plane back. At that point, the bees finally left the wing.
"Bee-lieve it or not, Delta flight 1682 from Houston-Bush to Atlanta took a delay yesterday 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," the airline said in a playful statement after social media pictures created a buzz.
Delta apologized to customers on the delayed flight.
A swarm of bees, seen here, delayed a Delta Airlines flight from Houston to Atlanta for roughly three hours on May 3, 2023. (Anjali Enjeti)
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