Wasps put planes at risk during take-off by nesting inside speedometer

A WASP species imported into Australia is posing a “significant risk” to aircraft safety, research has found.

Planes were forced to abandon takeoff and, in some cases, return shortly after departure in a series of incidents at Brisbane Airport, prompting a study published in the journal PLOS One yesterday. It found that the invasive s pecies, Pachodynerus nasidens, was building nests in aircraft speedometers, blocking the instruments within minutes.

Certainty about speed is vital to safety particularly during take-off and landing. The small black wasp was first discovered in Australia during a quarantine check at the Port of Brisbane in 2010, and spotted again at Brisbane Airport in 2012. The species is native to the Caribbean and South and Central America.

The wasp is nicknamed the keyhole wasp because of its tendency to take advantage of the apparent safety of artificial nooks and crannies for building nests. Pitot probes, thin tubes that calculate airspeed, have attracted the wasps. By blocking one or more on a plane, the wasps render data inconsistent and make pilots uncertain of speed.

In 2013, an A330 made an emergency landing at Brisbane Airport shortly after take-off because of trouble determining speed. Subsequently, the Australian

Transport Safety Bureau found a nest, constructed in less than two hours that had “almost totally obstructed” a probe.

Brisbane Airport and consultancy firm Ecosure conducted a three-year study involving replica pitot probes placed around the airport. Researchers checked the probes regularly and found it was the keyhole wasp building nests.