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1,000 Bees Delay American Airlines Flight in Dallas/Fort Worth

Around 1,000 bees delayed an American Airlines flight at Texas' Dallas/Fort Worth Airport after flying into the jet's wing.
Bees on American Airlines flight
Around 1,000 bees entered the wing of an American Airlines flight at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in Texas on Wednesday.Karin McCay
By Becky Bratu and Alexander Smith

Around 1,000 ticketless passengers attempted to board an American Airlines flight in Texas, causing commotion in the cabin and delaying the jetliner for more than an hour.

This wasn't a case of double-booked seats, though — the unwelcome travelers were bees.

The pilot said a queen bee had flown into the airliner's wing while it was waiting to depart Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Wednesday, according to Karin McCay, a reporter at NBC station KCBD.

Around 1,000 bees followed the queen and experts in protective suits had to be sent to remove them, McCay said in a series of updates on Twitter and Facebook. She posted images of passengers peering out of the plane's windows as someone worked under its right wing.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to NBC News' request on Thursday for information about the incident.

Becky Bratu

Becky Bratu is a staff writer at NBC News covering national, international and breaking news for NBCNews.com. She joined NBCNews full-time in November 2011, and previously worked within the company as a Web producer for "Nightly News with Brian Williams" and "Rock Center with Brian Williams." She began working at Rockefeller Center as an intern in June 2011. 

Bratu previously worked for newspapers and television stations in Romania and Germany, and did a stint as a blogger and Web producer for a tech and social media start-up in Virginia.  

She comes from Arad, Romania, and attended Columbia University in New York and Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.