Bee delays Indonesian passenger plane for four hours

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A bee delayed an Indonesian passenger plane for four hours after getting stuck in vital equipment and causing a problem with the aircraft?s controls, the airline said Wednesday.

The Channel NewsAsia reported that the flight, operated by Indonesian flag carrier Garuda, was scheduled to take off on Tuesday in the morning from Medan on the western island of Sumatra and head for Jakarta.

But the pilot of the Boeing 737, which was carrying 156 passengers, decided not to take off after noticing a problem with the controls, according to Garuda.



A statement by the airline spokesman, Benny Butarbutar said, ?An investigation found that the incident occurred because the plane?s electronic engine control suffered a technical problem after an insect got into a pitot tube.

?Due to safety concerns, Garuda Indonesia decided to delay the flight,? he added.

According to the report, aother official of the airline confirmed it was a bee that became trapped in the pitot tube, a vital piece of equipment which measures airspeed.

The airline did not say whether the bee survived the ordeal. After being repaired, the plane took off and landed safely in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

This is not an isolated case. The Express news UK also reported a similar situation where a Dublin-bound Flybe flight had to turn around just 10 minutes after leaving Southampton Airport when a bee was trapped. An engineer had to scrape out the bee?s remains after the jet was back on the ground.

The flight was then delayed for two hours before taking off again.