Bee Onboard Delays Indonesian Garuda Flight!

Local Editor

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda said Wednesday that a bee detected onboard of a passenger plane delayed the flight for four hours after getting stuck in vital equipment and causing a problem with the aircraft's controls.

The flight was scheduled to take off Tuesday morning from the western island of Sumatra and head for Jakarta.

However, the airline reported that the pilot of the Boeing 737, which was carrying 156 passengers, decided not to take off after noticing a problem with the controls.

Relatively, the company's spokesman Benny Butarbutar said in a statement that: "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," Butarbutar further added.

For his part, another Garuda official confirmed it was a bee that became trapped in the pitot tube, a vital piece of equipment which measures airspeed.

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

Besides, Butarbutar insisted the incident was beyond the airline's control, but said that passengers had nevertheless been given money as compensation.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team