Another passenger said, “The plane was scheduled to depart at 10.40 am. However, there was an unexpected delay due to the incident, departing almost three hours later than the scheduled time. The airline provided us with refreshments in the meantime.”

Video and photos shared with mid-day show bees swarming at the windows and wings of the aircraft. “The airport fire brigade rushed to the spot and sprayed water on the swarm of bees. They successfully removed them, and the pilots commenced the journey later. The aircraft departed from Mumbai airport at around 1.20 pm,” a passenger said.

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A source from the airline said, “Fortunately, the insects did not sting any passenger or cabin crew member. While boarding the aircraft, a passenger spotted the swarm and informed the cabin crew. All entrances were then immediately shut. Hence, no bee could enter the aircraft.”

Expert’s comments

Ankit Vyas, a bee rescuer and expert, said, “Due to rains, bees take shelter wherever possible. That is why they went to the aircraft. People mistook it for a bee attack. These bees usually do not come this low if it is not raining. The spraying of water killed the bees. Instead, any bee rescuer could have been contacted and the bees would have been relocated to some safe place without anyone being harmed.”

Shedding light on bee behaviour, he added, “When the colony produces a new queen in the presence of an existing queen, the colony splits into two parts and one part of the colony leaves the hive and migrates to a new location to establish a new colony and hive.”