Bee forces flight delay in Indonesia
An errant bee delayed the takeoff of a flight operated by Indonesia’s Garuda Indonesia, the flag carrier’s spokesman said Wednesday.
Benny Butarbutar, the company’s vice president of corporate communications, told Kyodo News that the pilot of Flight GA197 decided to delay the flight for four hours Tuesday after finding some problems in one of the aircraft’s engines.
The plane was scheduled to take off at 10.10am from Kualanamu international airport in the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan bound for the capital Jakarta.
“Based on a thorough investigation, the problem in the aircraft’s electronic engine control was caused by a bee entering the aircraft’s pitot tube located on the outer part of the cockpit, delaying the departure,” Mr Butarbutar said. The pitot tube measures airspeed.
The incident, he added, “was beyond Garuda’s control and caused more by the airport’s situation and condition.”
The problem was discovered just as the plane was about to take off, he said.
“Considering safety aspects, Garuda Indonesia decided to delay the flight, and after a one-hour repair process, the aircraft was declared serviceable and ready to operate,” Mr Butarbutar said, adding that the incident was the first of its kind for Garuda.