WASHINGTON — The plane set to carry dozens of journalists to Europe to cover President Biden’s first trip abroad was on the runway, ready to take off. The cicadas had other ideas. Somehow, the flying insects had filled the plane’s engines, grounding it and forcing Mr. Biden’s aides to scramble for another way to ferry the reporters overseas. And then until 2:15 a.m.Perhaps it was inevitable, with billions of cicadas flying around much of the eastern United States in recent weeks. White House travel officials delivered news of the insect malfunction to reporters gathered at the airport hotel, along with assurances that a new plane was headed to Washington from New York.

Source: New York Times June 09, 2021 04:18 UTC