January 14, 2020

Anna Murray 

A swarm of grasshoppers gave a hit on Ethiopian Airlines, Boeing 737-700, on January 10th. Blocked by the locusts, the plane landed on the Ethiopia capital instead, with all of the passengers being safe. According to the pilots, the locusts’ remains were hard to get rid of from the windscreen of the plane. 

The locusts’ incursion has been the worst in East Africa for the past 25 years. In accordance with the data from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are at least 40 million insects per square kilometer. They invade the field, causing severe destruction of the crops. 

The invasion of the locusts could be found not only in Ethiopia but in East Africa, such as Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia. UN pointed out that some farmers’ in Amhara, the northern state of Ethiopia, have lost “nearly 100%” of the staple crop. In Kenya, the aggression of the locusts has led the government to keep tracking of the situation, in case of any larger damage happening. 

Photo:Webshot.