A Delta Air Lines flight from Houston, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia, was delayed for three hours after a swarm of bees attached themselves to the plane.
"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 spokesperson Morgan Durrant said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Passenger Anjali Enjeti detailed the crazy incident in a lengthy thread on Twitter.
"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," she tweeted, along with a photo of the bees on the wing.
Airport officials planned to have a beekeeper come and remove the bees, but that didn't work because the beekeeper would not have been allowed to touch the airplane. Pest control could not assist because they were not allowed to spray the aircraft with chemicals to remove the bees. While they could have used water, the airport didn't have a hose near the plane, and the fire department was unable to respond.
Eventually, Delta Air Lines had to clear the gate so another plane could use it. Once the pilot turned on the engines, the bees flew away.
"Omg y'all. Entire the flight crew deplaned. Delta decided to give our gate to another flight. As soon as our plane's engine turned on, THE BEES LEFT!!! All Delta had to do was TURN ON THE PLANE," Enjeti tweeted, along with a video of the bees leaving.