This is the weird story of how a wasp tried to kill me.
Last Saturday morning I decided to take the club’s 172 for a quick 1 hour hop to another airfield for a coffee and back. After the usual pre flight and power checks I find myself lined up on the runway ready for takeoff.
As usual I applied full power, and kept my right hand on the throttle, while my left hand is holding the yoke. I’m soon rolling down the runway and start pulling slightly on the yoke to rotate. Now what happens next, happens in a matter of seconds and will probably stay with me for a while.
Just as I’m maybe 5 feet of the ground, a wasp is spat out of the 172’s upper cabin vent onto the top of my left hand where it stung me. Now, this wasn’t like the wasp landed on my hand and then proceeded to sting me. This was instantaneous. Think about it as someone throwing a dart on the top of your hand. You don’t feel something like an insect on your hand. It goes “thump” and it’s instant sting and burn. At this point I have no idea that it was a wasp. I was looking at the centerline and, out of the corner of my eye, I see something being shot out of the vent onto my hand and feel the sharp pain.
My reaction is automatic and immediate. I pull hard my left hand. Now, when you are holding the yoke, are a few feet above the ground and going pretty slow, this is not a very good idea. The 172 pitched up steep and rolled to the right. My shock of the aircraft doing this far exceeded the pain from my left hand. I let go of the yoke and while I’ll shaking off whatever is on my left hand, my right hand takes over. I move it from the throttle onto the yoke and push it back to a non brown pants attitude. In retrospect I think this wasn’t as bad as it sounds, as I don’t even remember the stall alarm blaring, but must have been quite a show from the ground.
Whatever was on my hand dropped down onto the seat. I glance down and catch it crawling in between my legs and disappearing in the crotch area. I still not sure if it’s a bee, a wasp or a hornet.
Thinking that it’s probably still pissed off and it’s going to do further damage in a pretty delicate area, my first thought is to join the circuit, land and get rid of it. But at this point I’m still in a bit of a shock from the aircraft pitch up incident and decide to fly straight ahead and gain a bit of height and calm down.
Before take off I was cleared to 2000ft so I decide to reach this altitude while being really still and not move on my seat. On the climb, I notice a fairly large wasp (now it’s clear what it is) crawling on my thigh. Most probably it is still too stunned to fly but unlike me has the option of staying on the ground. Well on my thigh that is.
At 2000ft I level off and take a breeder. I’m not too bothered about the wasp anymore. I mean yes, if it stings again, it’s going to be painful but not as painful as me losing control of the aircraft at 5 feet. I decide that maybe I should try to squash it with my tablet. And just as I have this thought, the wasp takes flight, buzzes a couple of times around my face and disappears. Just like that.
My hand burns and there is a red swollen patch round the sting. See, I have never been stung by a wasp before and don’t know what to expect. A quick thought passes through my head… Should I tell atc and ask to head back to land? My home airfield is in fairly busy class C airspace and the idea of having everyone hearing me say ‘Approach, err, this is a bit of a weird one, but I’ve just been stung by a wasp. I’m in a little pain, but all is ok. Wasp is still in the cabin, so I guess you could call it 1 WOB?‘. I dismiss the idea and realise it’s not really anything to report.
I also decide to continue to my destination. After all, apart from the pain on my hand, I feel fine and there is no sign of the wasp anymore. I’m pretty used to having all sorts of insects flying around in the cabin in summer. They don’t usually bug me. I’ve definitely flown with more bugs than people. However it’s is not over with this wasp yet.
On the way to my destination I try hard to find where the wasp is hiding, thinking it might sneak on me from the back. The wasp must have found a good hiding place as I can’t locate it..My hand keeps on burning and the red patch gets bigger however the swelling subsides. The sting is still itching today, 2 days later!
Eventually I get to the airfield, where I descend and join the circuit. I’m alone in the circuit and only one aircraft is doing power checks on the ground. At the lower height, surrounded by hills, things get a bit bumpy. This must have shaken the bug. I kid you not, when I’m on short final it flies really close to my eyes and lands on my left shoulder.
I realise the absurdity of the whole thing now. This is an insect that stung me at a delicate time of the flight at the worst possible place. Then it proceeded to disappear during the part of the flight where I could attempt to get rid of it. Now it came back to taunt me right when I need to concentrate the most.
I decide to ignore it even if it stings me and prepare in case I need to do a last second go around. I guess the wasp just wanted to watch the landing, as on contact with the ground, it flies off and goes to rest on the passenger’s window. I come to a complete stop, open the door and flick it off. It’s going to be a long flight home for it now.
A friend told me that in Germany if you’re caught killing a bee or a wasp you get fined €50. I do wonder if the fine still applies if it is an act of self defence.
Has anyone experienced similar stories involving bugs in the cabin?
geekyflyer wrote:
See, I have never been stung by a wasp before and don’t know what to expect.
At this point I began to worry about the chances that you could be allergic to wasp stings. Going into anaphylactic shock solo at a couple of thousand feet wouldn’t be the most ideal scenario! As you’ve never been stung before (good job, by the way) you wouldn’t know.
geekyflyer wrote:
A friend told me that in Germany if you’re caught killing a bee or a wasp you get fined €50.
I’ve lived here for five years and that may be the first I’ve heard about that! Looks like I owe a few hundred euros…
A friend told me that in Germany if you’re caught killing a bee or a wasp you get fined €50. I do wonder if the fine still applies if it is an act of self defence.
As with so many things about German laws and regulations posted on EuroGA this is an urban myth, but with a basis in fact in so far as wasps are indeed protected in Germany under nature conservation laws. Their nests for example may not be removed unless there is a specific justification (e.g. it’s on your house and you are allergic). From my understanding swatting a single wasp would not be punishable in any way, and in this specific case even if it were, your life would rank higher than that of the wasp (paragraph 34 of the German penal code basically allows you to break laws unpunished in case it is the only way to safe others or yourself from harm).
Back on topic, thanks for posting about this incident, which could certainly have ended much worse. I probably would have crashed. I’m already quite anxious about wasps when firmly on the ground, as their aggressive and unpredictable behaviour can be quite unsettling. I have found the common advice to just remain still when wasps are approaching to be quite useless, as the last two times I was stung it was completely unprovoked and I did barely move.
Congrats for keeping your calm as far as possible and getting the situation under control after you were startled!
Btw., this is probably obvious, but IF someone on here is allergic to wasp or bee poison, and something like that happens to you, you declare and emergency and land instantly, even if you thereby force an A380 on opposite course to go around 
You can end up in an anaphylactic shock within minutes, and might be unable to fly the plane even earlier. I’d say your chances of staying in control are better with a heart attack. If you’re in a Cirrus, being stung by a wasp as an allergic might warrant pulling the chute, though obviously not on take off as in the OP situation…
You did very well to handle that situation, geekyflyer. That’s horrible. I often get bees or wasps flying into the cockpit on the ground and always go to a lot of trouble to get them out. Wasps are horrible; I have been stung even while swimming, into the part of my hand which was briefly above water. And once you get one sting, you quickly get more because of the way they work.
There are other things too… Once I got bitten by a tiny spider and it was every bit as bad as a wasp. Fortunately one isn’t likely to find these on the tarmac, but they can live inside a plane which has been parked for a while.
As with so many things about German laws and regulations posted on EuroGA this is an urban myth
As a mod/admin I read practically every post and I have no idea why you single out Germany there.
You posted about a €50k fine and didn’t answer my question about their frequency…
@geekyflyer, while other have focussed on the seriousness which is not in doubt, it is also a very funny story. Well done in keeping your cool and providing some amusement!
Yes, well done. I was stung during take-off at age 17 in a glider being air-towed. I had the advantage of having seen the wasp before it stung, and also having been stung many times as a child, so I knew I was not allergic, and I also knew what to expect. In fact I think the few seconds sitting anticipating the sting challenged my flying more than when it actually stung.
But it is definitely a potential serious hazard and I would guess that ATC would be very understanding and accommodating if they had a request from a stung pilot.
Fortunately I never encountered wasps or bees in the confined space of a cockpit.
For non aviation related insect encounters my tactic has evolved from trying to swoosh them away to being very calm. A small water spray bottle is very effective. Wasps think it rains and immediately fly away to their nest.
I am told that the lack of an allergic reaction to past stings is not a guarantee that you won’t get one in the future. Apparently the reaction can be cumulative over time.
One instructor told me that flies go “pop” (explode) at 2000ft but it clearly isn’t true
Yes, you can become allergic to bees/wasps etc at any time, it is a learned immune response (to a protein that is in the venom I believe). An epipen could save the day (well not in an aircraft, but outdoors).
