One of the nicest things about riding a plane is the thought of being up in the skies and being able to see the clouds straight through the planes' windows.
To the passengers of a delayed passenger flight in Moscow, the view was a swarm of bees, just before takeoff.
Thousands of bees settled under a wing and on the windows of the Airbus-319 in Vnukovo Airport, as it was about to takeoff on its way to St. Petersburg.
The Rossiya Airplane had to stay put for a while, as staff immediately responded to the sudden critter attack. Normally, it takes smoking out and vacuuming up to take away a swarm of bees, however reports do not confirm what exactly was done to peel off the bees-coated wing and windows of the plane. Witnesses do say that the airport staff immediately responded and were quick and efficient in removing the bees from the plane's fuselage.
After about an hour, the plane was ready to takeoff, bee-free.
To some, the incident was sudden, however not surprising.
A couple of other incidents involving the attack of a swarm of bees have been reported earlier this year and late last year. In April, for one, thousands of bees swarmed the windows of an Allegiant Airlines plane on its way to Minnesota, before eventually being sucked by the plane's engine. In October last year, another swarm of bees charged against a drone quadcopter on flight over Miami Beach in Florida. Across Southwest America, bees have had an increasing interest in airports in particular.
In Arizona, the Mohave County Sherriff's Office reported the death of 81-year-old John Wade after being stung around 500 to 1,000 times by African bees while he was looking at a property in Valle Vista.
In England, a report late June tells of thousands of bees that temporarily nested on a hanging basket along a shopping district in Leeds, in search for a new home.
As for the Rossiya aircraft bee attack, staff called two ambulances to stand by in case the bees entered the cabin and attack any of the passengers and crew. Fortunately, the bees never made their way through to the inside of the plane and no one was reported hurt.
