Cicadas foil timely takeoff of Biden press plane

Reporters traveling to the United Kingdom for President Joe Biden’s first overseas trip were delayed seven hours after their chartered plane was overrun by cicadas.

The Washington, D.C., area is among the many parts of the country that have been swarmed by Brood X cicadas, a large emergence of the loud 17-year insects that take to dive-bombing onto moving vehicles and unsuspecting passersby.

ExploreGeorgia county: Stop calling 911 for those deafening cicadas

Even Biden wasn’t spared. The president brushed a cicada from the back of his neck as he chatted with his Air Force greeter after arriving at Joint Base Andrews for Wednesday’s flight.

“Watch out for the cicadas,” Biden then told reporters. “I just got one. It just got me.”

It was unclear how cicadas disrupted the mechanics of the press plane. Weather and crew rest issues also contributed to the flight delay late Tuesday. Ultimately, the plane was swapped for another one, and the flight took off shortly after 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

Yep! We have to say it!

Don't eat #cicadas if you're allergic to seafood as these insects share a family relation to shrimp and lobsters. https://t.co/UBg7CwrObN pic.twitter.com/3qn7czNg53
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) June 2, 2021

The press plane is arranged with the assistance of the White House and carries journalists at their expense. There was not expected to be any impact on news coverage of Biden’s visit.

‘Grief and loss’ unite mom, sister of women who died after incomplete abortions

Candi Miller and Amber Nicole Thurman died in 2022 aftert incomplete abortions. Their sister and mother, respectively, have started a podcast called "We Talk About It"

Clinic bombing reminds Georgia reproductive health staff that job isn’t safe

State Rep. Esther Panitch says of attacks on clinics: "You’d think the ability to create life would bring people together, but even that tears people apart."