ATLANTA — A group of bees delayed a Delta flight from Houston to Atlanta for about three hours on Wednesday afternoon.
Atlanta-based Delta Airlines confirmed that a group of bees congregated on the wing of the aircraft, causing a delay.
“Bee-lieve it or not, Delta flight 1682 on May 3 from Houston-Bush to Atlanta took a delay after a friendly group of bees evidently wanted to talk shop with the winglet of one of our airplanes, no doubt to share the latest about flying conditions at the airport,” Delta said in a statement.
A viral Twitter thread by AnjaliEnjeti documented all the drama by live-tweeting the ordeal:
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
Delta said that the delay was to ensure that no surfaces of our aircraft got contaminated during the departure.
Airport officials were able to use ground equipment to shake the bees loose from the wing, according to Delta. Eventually, this method worked.
The flight landed in the early evening on Wednesday.
Delta apologized to customers for the delay.
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