An Air India passenger jet was delayed by three hours in Kolkata Airport after the flight crew discovered a swarm of belligerent bees blocking the cockpit window.
The bees attacked ground staff who attempted to remove them so that the Kolkata-Agartala flight with 136 passengers, including Bangladesh’s information minister, could take off Sunday.
Airline workers initially attempted to clear the invasive insects with the plane’s windshield wipers, but eventually had to resort to the tried and trusted method of blasting them with a hose, with a little help from the airport’s fire department.
“Fire tenders were deployed to spray water to dislodge the honey bees and they could be driven away after nearly an hour-long operation,” airport official Kaushik Bhattcharya said.
The pilots noticed the bees when they were already taxiing to the runway for takeoff and they reportedly stopped the aircraft to avoid any potential damage to the engines. The plane had already been delayed prior to the discovery of the bees.
