This archive report was first published on 16 September 2019.
On September 15, 2019, a swarm of bees caused a significant delay for an Air India flight departing from Kolkata, India.
The flight, which was scheduled to leave with 136 passengers, including Bangladesh's information minister, was delayed by over three and a half hours.
According to airport officials, the bees landed on the cockpit window just before the plane was due to take off, prompting ground staff to try and shoo them away.
However, when the bees became agitated, officials resorted to using water to dislodge them, with fire tenders deployed to spray water to drive the bees away.
"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 told AFP.
