Bird strikes are perhaps the greatest unappreciated risk pilots face. There are a number of reasons for this, but among the primary contenders is the fact that most strikes result in expensive airframe and powerplant repairs rather than catastrophic conclusions. There was some attention paid to this important topic after some geese put US Airways Flight 1549 down in the Hudson River, but with no loss of life, that attention quickly faded.
The the threat remains, and it’s growing larger. A joint report from the FAA and US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, Wildlife Strikes to Civil Aircraft in the United States 1990-2013, notes that the number of reported strikes has increased more than six-fold, from 1,851 in 1990 to a record 11,315 in 2013. Birds accounted for 97 percent of them. The number of US airports where strikes occurred also increased over the same period, from 331 to 649.
Look at almost any airport listed in the Airport/Facility Directory, and its remarks will probably note: “Birds on and invof arpt.” No pilot would accept a weather report this vague, so why do they accept it for wildlife? And why is a pilot’s education lacking in wildlife knowledge? Do you know when and at what altitude most bird strikes occur?
[Read more…] about Seeing Where Bird Strikes are a Threat