Swarm of flying insects grounds Hobart flight

A swarm of flying ants has disrupted the flight plans of hundreds of passengers at Hobart Airport.

A swam of flying ants has grounded a Qantas flight at Hobart Airport.

Hundreds of passengers have had their travel plans disrupted this afternoon at Hobart Airport after a swarm of flying insects disrupted flights.

Passengers due to fly out on the 4.10pm flight to Melbourne were left grounded when the insect swarm descended on the airport.

Passenger Melissa Sweet took to social media to share the unusual news.

“So a swarm of flying insects has grounded our @Qantas flight out of Hobart. Pilot said it’s only 2nd time he has seen such a thing in his 25 years of flying,” she tweeted.

So a swarm of flying insects has grounded our @Qantas flight out of Hobart. Pilot said it’s only 2nd time he has seen such a thing in his 25 years of flying

— Melissa Sweet (@croakeyblog) April 16, 2019

Another person contacted the Mercury to say a relative had her afternoon flight delayed by the ants, and was due to take off at 9.15pm.

It is believed the Qantas flight QF 1016 was on the runway ready for take-off when the ants descended and insects may have been sucked into the engines.

A spokesman for the airport said a replacement aircraft with engineers on board was flying to Hobart to inspect the grounded plane and would take stranded passengers on to Melbourne.