Bees Swarm Airliner Tug, Moving Walkway Motor Caught Fire

Wednesday was not the best of days for managers at North Carolina's Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

A US Airways flight was delayed for about three hours at a gate when a swarm of bees described as about the size of a soccer ball surrounded the tug that was assigned to push the airplane back from the terminal. The Charlotte Observer reports that airport managers went scrambling to find a beekeeper.

There were passengers already on board the airliner when the swarm, which the beekeeper said was a queen bee and drones looking to establish a new colony, went after the tug. Beekeeper Jimmy Odom said they were docile, and just looking for a place to call home. But the flight had already been delayed half an hour by mechanical difficulties, and was getting close to the three-hour tarmac delay limit.

The plane finally departed at 4:00 p.m. EDT ... short of the three-hour delay which would have forced US Airways to deplane the passengers or pay a fine.

Then about 5:00 p.m., a fire broke out in one of the electric motors of a moving walkway on Concourse E, which forced the evacuation of the area. The Concourse was re-opened about 8:00 p.m., and officials said the fire was contained to the motor.

And even getting out of Charlotte did not mean passengers’ problems were over. A US Airways flight from Charlotte to Rome wound up in Philadelphia instead. E-mails received by the Charlotte Observer from passengers indicated that the plane had developed a mechanical problem in-flight over the Atlantic Ocean and returned to the Pennsylvania airport where it landed safely.

FMI: www.charlotteairport.com