*ISLAMABAD – An Air India flight was delayed by several hours after a swarmof bees landed on the cockpit window, attacking ground staff when theytried to remove them, officials said.*
The insects landed on the window just before the plane was due to leave theeastern city of Kolkata on Sunday with 136 passengers, includingBangladesh’s information minister.
Ground staff tried to shoo the insects off, angering them, and whenattempts to use the windscreen wipers failed officials switched to ‘plan b’and blasted them off with water.
“Fire tenders were deployed to spray water to dislodge the honey bees andthey could be driven away after nearly an hour-long operation,” airportofficial Kaushik Bhattcharya told AFP.
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The flight to Agartala in north-eastern India eventually took off more thanthree and a half hours late.
Bees swarm when a queen bee leaves an existing colony to found a new hometogether with thousands of worker bees. -APP/AFP
