More bird-strike reports
Source: Agencies |
January 13, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
REPORTS of airplanes hitting birds and other wildlife have soared in the year since a stricken US Airways jet landed in New York's Hudson River, and the United States government's tally for last year may even exceed 10,000 for the first time.
Serious accidents are climbing at a faster rate than minor incidents.
There were at least 57 cases in the first seven months of 2009 that caused serious damage and three in which planes and a corporate helicopter were destroyed by birds, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of the latest government figures available. At least eight people died, and six more were hurt.
The destroyed planes include the Airbus A320 that, with 155 passengers and crew, went into the Hudson a year ago this week after hitting a flock of Canada geese. No lives were lost in that dramatic river landing.
But when a Sikorsky helicopter crashed en route to a Gulf of Mexico oil platform last January after hitting a red-tailed hawk, the two pilots and six of seven passengers were killed.
And there is no shortage of frightening reports of knocked-out engines and emergency landings.
Why the increase in bird-strike reports? Airports and airlines have become more diligent about reporting, said Mike Beiger, national coordinator for the airport wildlife hazards program at the Agriculture Department. But experts also say populations of large birds like Canada geese that can knock out engines have increased.
"Birds and planes are fighting for airspace, and it is getting increasingly crowded," said Richard Dolbeer, an expert on bird-plane collisions who is advising the Federal Aviation Administration and the Agriculture Department.
Serious accidents are climbing at a faster rate than minor incidents.
There were at least 57 cases in the first seven months of 2009 that caused serious damage and three in which planes and a corporate helicopter were destroyed by birds, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of the latest government figures available. At least eight people died, and six more were hurt.
The destroyed planes include the Airbus A320 that, with 155 passengers and crew, went into the Hudson a year ago this week after hitting a flock of Canada geese. No lives were lost in that dramatic river landing.
But when a Sikorsky helicopter crashed en route to a Gulf of Mexico oil platform last January after hitting a red-tailed hawk, the two pilots and six of seven passengers were killed.
And there is no shortage of frightening reports of knocked-out engines and emergency landings.
Why the increase in bird-strike reports? Airports and airlines have become more diligent about reporting, said Mike Beiger, national coordinator for the airport wildlife hazards program at the Agriculture Department. But experts also say populations of large birds like Canada geese that can knock out engines have increased.
"Birds and planes are fighting for airspace, and it is getting increasingly crowded," said Richard Dolbeer, an expert on bird-plane collisions who is advising the Federal Aviation Administration and the Agriculture Department.
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