A Volaris flight from Guadalajara to Mexico City was delayed by nearly two and a half hours on October 6 when a swarm of little bitey bugs inundated the passenger cabin. Recent weather trends in Jalisco have left significant zones of standing water, perfect breeding grounds for blood-sucking mosquitos. When a big metal tube full of human-shaped blood sacks rolls through, what else is a mosquito swarm to do besides fly inside and enjoy the smorgasbord?
A video of the havoc which ensued can be seen below, as obtained by the New York Post. Volaris cabin crew can be seen walking the aisles with cans of bug spray, fumigating the air above the heads of a plane full of passengers. The passengers appear to be in a wild mixture of coughing, covering their mouths, waving their hands, and shouting cheers of approval through the process. Imagine how bad the mosquitos must have been for airline passengers to cheer being bug bombed by attendants. I’m not sure I can decide which outcome I’d prefer.
Flight VOI221 was scheduled to depart Guadalajara on Friday at 4:30 pm local time, though it did not take off until 6:59 pm. Reports from inside the cabin indicate the bug spray didn’t help much, and the mosquitos continued swarming and attacking until the overhead cabin lights were turned off once reaching altitude.
Apparently this isn’t an uncommon occurrence, as Volaris was prepared with a tweet explaining the situation, saying “Te comento que el aeropuerto de Guadalajara se encuentra propenso a inconvenientes de esta índole debido a que se encuentra cerca de zonas con encharcamientos y vegetación abundante por ello es que abundan estos insectos.” Translated for you fools who don’t read Spanish, “I tell you that the Guadalajara airport is prone to problems of this nature because it is located near areas with flooding and abundant vegetation, which is why these insects abound.”
Now you know why these insects abound.