Bees Enter No Fly Zone, Cause Delta Flight Delay

People hoping for a quick, uneventful trip from Houston to Atlanta had those hopes dashed before takeoff thanks to a massive swarm of bees.

The flight was supposed to take off a little after noon local time on Wednesday, but before passengers could board, someone spotted this giant swarm of bees.

Anjali Enjeti took the above photo and kept tabs on the bee incident. For posterity's sake, she documented the numerous attempts to remove the bees from that plane.

Like this one, where someone appeared to try to hose the bees off the plane.

That approach works well for clearing a swarm out of a backyard gazebo, but that won't cut the mustard when you're trying to de-bee a passenger jet.

The crew at the Houston airport also tried to blow exhaust at the bees. That didn't work either.

They Overlooked A Shockingly Simple Solution To The Bee Problem

So how did they eventually get this puppy bee free and bound for Atlanta?

They turned on the engine and pushed the plane back from the gate without any passengers.

Now, isn't that the first thing they should've tried? That seems as simple as Fonzie fixing a jukebox by hitting it.

According to Enjeti, passengers were frustrated. I can only imagine they were more frustrated when they learned how easy the solution was.

Actually, Delta's statement may have made them angrier still.

"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," an airline spokesperson told CBS News.

I'm sure the people who had their days ruined by the flight delay are glad to see Delta's cutesy statement about the situation.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.