An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane is reported to have diverted to the capital Addis Ababa instead of a scheduled landing in the chartered city of Dire Dawa after it ran into a swarm of grasshoppers. The decision to divert to Addis Ababa was due to reduced visibility despite efforts by the pilots to clean the windscreens upon impact with the locusts. According to the BBC, a spokesman for the airline confirmed that the plane was diverted by the swarm of insects but did not give further details of Thursday’s incident. The incident comes at a time various regions of Kenya have been invaded by swarms of locust which have left a trail of devastation that is causing food security concerns in the country. Kiunjuri, who has since been sacked by President Uhuru Kenyatta, said the migratory nature of the locusts made it even more difficult to deal with.

Source: Ethiopian News January 14, 2020 13:30 UTC