'Locust swarm' forces Ethiopian airliner to divert

An Ethiopian airliner was diverted to Addis Ababa Airport after colliding with a swarm of locust midair.

The plane, Boeing 737-700, registration ET-ALN performing flight ET-363 was flying from Djibouti to Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, The Standard reported.

As it was approaching Dire Dawa for a landing, the aircraft initially flew through a small number of locusts, Aero-News, a multi-channel aviation digital hub reported.

The crew decided to approach Dire Dawa with caution since the locusts were not enough to prevent them from approaching the airport.

Few moments later, the plane hit a larger swarm with some locust trapped in the engine and others hit the windshield which impacted and reduced visibility from the cockpit window.

According to simplyflying.com, the pilot tried in scant success to clean the screen using wipers.

No casualties were reported and the Dire Dawa bound passengers had another flight.