A Palmair jet bound for Portugal on Saturday 26th May had to make a bee-line (excuse the pun) for Bournemouth following an engine surge one hour into the flight. The pilots reported seeing a swarm of bees an estimated 20,000 strong just off the British Coast, and upon inspection the jet engine contained what seemed to be the remnants of a large amount of bees that had been sucked into the engine.
The flight was consequently grounded, and the passengers were delayed for almost 11 hours. We’ve all heard of bird-strikes, but for me anyway this is a new one! I wonder if it’s a ‘first’ or whether there have been other reports of engine surges following an ingestion of a bee swarm?!