July 29, 2004
Millions of crickets have invaded Nice Airport in southern France, causing no direct threat to air traffic but attracting birds who could pose a danger, airport officials said.
Frederic Gozlan, head of technical services at the airport, said efforts were under way to clear the crickets who are believed to have flown in from Italy or North Africa.
“The crickets look for and love the sun, but we have to hunt them down before they eat all the grass by the runways,” he said, adding that the grass was needed to hold dust and gravel in place when planes land and take off.
“If the insects are not a real danger for the jet engines, what is more serious is that they attract birds who are very dangerous for air traffic.”
Airport workers were trying to pulverize the crickets and destroy them with chemicals that would not damage the environment.
(Reuters)
By: SHAMROCK321 - 30th July 2004 at 21:16
What a strange problem.Reminds me of the BA aircraft that was swarmed by bees.
By: Airline owner - 30th July 2004 at 19:24
i can imagine a man saying to the waiter “waiter there is a cricket in my soup”
By: tenthije - 30th July 2004 at 18:07
Just testrun a GE90 at full power, see if the crickets can evade the suction from such a jet.
By: Grey Area - 30th July 2004 at 18:01
Sounds like a steam-roller would be of most use there……
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July 30, 2004 at 6:00 pm