A Delta Airlines flight takeoff was delayed by three hours after a swarm of bees hanging on the wing of the aircraft was noticed. The incident occurred with Delta Flight 1685, which was scheduled to fly from Texas to Georgia, was preparing to leave the ground. At the time, the Airbus A320 aircraft operated by the airline had 92 passengers onboard along with five crew members. The airline later confirmed the incident, along with the explanation for the delay in the services.

Business Insider quotes Delta saying, “Bee-lieve it or not, 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.”

Also read: Go First Insolvency: 10 Discontinued Airlines Of India From Past Decade – Jet Airways, Kingfisher And More

As per the airline, the plane was only able to take off after three hours once the crew ensured that the wing was clean and no harm was inflicted on the bees hanging from the aircraft. The incident was recorded by the people present at the site of the incident and was shared on social media platforms.

Currently contemplating a career in bee journalism.  https://t.co/lqT7y5rRqA
— Anjali Enjeti (she/her) (@AnjaliEnjeti) May 4, 2023

One of the passengers on the plane described the situation along with pictures and videos of the bees on the wing of the plane. She also mentioned that multiple attempts by the crew to get rid of the bees failed. A similar story was described by Delta Airlines in its statement. The airline said that after multiple failed attempts, the airline used ground equipment to push back the plane after deboarding the passengers to remove the bees from the plane’s wing.

As per the data present on Flightradar24, the plane arrived at its destination (Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport) at 7.30 p.m. E.T.

The airline further said in its statement, “We are told this kind of swarming is rare but not unheard of occurrence and can occur on virtually any outdoor structure in climates/environments where bees are found in nature.”