Archive 2011

Relevant events of December 2011
Three are the events, in our opinion, to be focussed in this month. As first, an impact with a donkey on a runway (5) is not so frequent, and it also could make us smile, but its consequences could be really tragic; then the bird ingestion occurred in Italy that caused the engine replacement; at last once again a decision to continue the flight (28) in spite of a multiple bird strike with unknown effects, decision wisely changed soon and that led to a diversion to the nearest suitable airport.
  • 1 - Charlotte
    America West B737, struck birds on take off and suffers damages on engine cowling; the aircraft continued to destination;
  • 5 – Las Piedras
    Tiara Air Aruba Shorts 360, hit a donkey on the runway with its right main gear just after becoming airborne causing the right main gear to be bent backwards; the crew decided to continue to destination because of better facilities available there; on landing the right main gear sustained substantial structural damage and partially collapsed;
    http://aruba-daily.com/newspaper/?p=9095
  • 6 – Kathmandu
    PIA B777, during the approach a bird hit the right wing causing the fracture of slat n. 11;

    (Photo from avherald.com)
  • 13 – Recife
    Azul Linhas Aereas E190, suffered the impact of a large bird, probably an Urubu (Coragyps Atratus), on its right hand engine while landing and received a large dent at the leading edge of the engine inlet.

    (Photo from avherald.com)
  • 17 – San Francisco
    Skywest CRJ 200, was accelerating for takeoff when the right hand engine ingested a bird prompting the crew to reject takeoff at high speed; minor damage;
  • 22 – Huntington
    Pinnacle Airlines CRJ 200, struck a bird on final approach and received damage to its radome;
  • 23 – Bergamo
    Ryanair B737, ingested a bird into its right hand engine while on approach; the engine needed to be replaced;
  • 28 – Sacramento
    USAirways A319, on approach a bird struck the left engine;
  • 28 – Ft.Lauderdale
    Delta B757, climbing through 800 ft. one or more birds struck the aircraft; the crew didn't know whether the aircraft received any damage and continued the flight, but then changed their mind and diverted to Orlando; undetermined damage to the fuselage and the right engine;
  • 28 – Toronto
    British Airways B777, on approach at about 3500 feet the crew reported a bird strike; a post flight inspection revealed the aircraft received two large dents to the leading edge of the left hand wing and one large dent on the #1 engine inlet;

    (Pictures taken from http://aviation-dailynews.blogspot.com)
  • 29 – Wichita
    Priv. Cessna 525, struck birds on landing;
  • 31 – Portland
    Southwest B737, during the initial climb the crew reported they took a number of birds into an engine that however was not shut down; immediate return after emergency declared; this appears to be the 65th bird strike of 2011 at Portland airport, but the first one to cause damages;
    http://www.kgw.com/news/Southwest-flight-strikes-bird-upon-departure-from-PDX-136483593.html

 
The Bird Strike Committee Italy released the 2010 report.
The 2010 report (in Italian language) on the wildlife strikes at Italian airports has been released by BSCI on the ENAC website.

 
No Flight Plan
 
cicogne
No, this time it’s not another case of bird strike, this time there's a happy end. Two White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) thought that the runway of Cagliari airport (south of Sardinia, Italy) was the right place to land after a long migration flight. One bird, however, was so tired because of the long stage that fall stunned on the pavement. The other one watched over until the companion recovered, with the long beak threatening anyone who tried to approach. Then both moved to a safer area. For once the jet "colleagues" had to wait.

Cagliari airport is located on the banks of S. Gilla pond where avian population poses serious problems to air traffic. The airport operator, that must ensure the safety of flight operations, has its work cut out to keep the situation under control.

 
The Dutch Safety Board relesead the report on the Amsterdam bird strike of 6.6.2010
A serious case of emergency landing occurred on 6.6.2010 at Amsterdam airport following the ingestion of birds into one engine of a Boeing 737 operated by Royal Air Maroc.

The Dutch Safety Board recently released the final report containing the event full description, the analysis and the safety recommendations.

We suggest to carefully read the paper that alone is worth more than an academic treatise on wildlife prevention.
 

 
Relevant events of November 2011
  • 3 – Cagliari
    Meridiana Fly MD82, rejected take off at high speed due to a suspect bird ingestion into one engine; a subsequent inspection allowed to find out an impact with a gull that did not cause any damage;
  • 6 – Salt Lake City
    Allegiant MD83,on landing a large bird impacted the aircraft causing damage to the cowling; runway closed to clear bird remains;
  • 7 – Salt Lake City
    Skywest Airlines,on final hit a large bird; no damage reported;
  • 8 – Salt Lake City
    Skywest Airlines CRJ700, on final about 5 nm before the runway struck some geese that caused damages to the left wing; http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top_stories/story/Birds-strike-two-SkyWest-planes-in-Salt-Lake-City/B3coQrTN_0qrwjP85V7VJA.cspx
  • 12 – Warroad
    private C550, on landing struck a deer with the left wing;
  • 14 - Dar Es Salaam
    South African Airways A319, struck a large bird presumably a Hadada Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) while on the initial climb prompting the crew to immediately return, probably with one engine only; damages not reported; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadada_Ibis
  • 16 – Charlotte
    Republic Airlines ERJ 170, rejected take off due to a bird strike; damage to nbr. 2 engine;
  • 17 – Jackson
    Eurocopter EC135, on air ambulance service a bird struck the windshield; two persons injured;
  • 18 – Baltimora
    Southwest B737, on final hit a number of birds, reportedly large cranes; damages to the windshield; probably the species was the Sandhill Crane (Grus canadiensis);
  • 18 – Panama City
    Continental B737, in the initial climb the left hand engine ingested a bird and repeatedly surged emitting flames; immediate return with only one engine; http://www.tvn-2.com/noticias/noticias_detalle.asp?id=63549
  • 20 – Trondheim
    SAS B737, during the initial climb a gull struck the aircraft near the nose gear; diversion to Oslo Gerdermoen; no damage reported;
  • 21 – Amsterdam
    Easyjet A319, during the initial climb the right engine ingested a bird; the engine was shut down and the aircraft returned immediately; several fan blades damaged; http://www.nu.nl/binnenland/2674131/vliegtuig-moet-terugkeren-vogel-in-motor.html
  • 26 – Panama City
    COPA B737, struck a bird while climbing after take off but continued to destination; damage near the cockpit window reported;
  • 27 – Xiamen
    China Southern A321, on approach an engine ingested a bird; found two fan blades seriously damaged as result of the bird strike and next flight delayed;
  • 28 – Memphis
    Pinnacle Airlines CRJ2, presumed to have hit a bird in the clouds after take off causing the front left windshield to crack; minor damages;
  • 29 – Youngstown
    Be 90 King Air, on landing struck a deer with the main left gear; substantial damages;

 
Relevant events of October 2011
Several cases in this month of damaged and even replaced (B747 PIA) engines due to bird ingestion; once again however a decision to continue the flight after an impact (Dallas 15/10) without a thorough assessment of possible damages, only afterward found out. At Gibraltar (28/10) - on the contrary - an aircraft has been grounded until an inspection allowed to dissipate any doubt.
  • 1 – New York
    Delta A330, on approach a bird impacted the left wing near the engine; the aircraft received minor damage;
  • 5 – Helsinki
    Norwegian B737, during the climb received a bird strike; the crew initially continued the flight, but then decided to return about 90 minutes after departure due to the foggy weather at destination;
  • 6 – Islamabad
    PIA B747, was climbing when the #1 engine ( left outboard) ingested a bird requiring the crew to shut the engine down; the aircraft returned immediately; the engine needs to be replaced;
  • 12 – Denver
    United Airlines B757, on approach an engine ingested a bird upon landing; the engine sustained damage to the fan blades;
  • 13 – Amritsar
    Jet Airways B737, rejected takeoff at high speed after the left hand engine ingested a bird; damage to the fan blades;
  • 14 – Simferopol
    Rossiya An148, during the climb the right hand engine ingested a bird prompting the crew to shut the engine down; immediate return;
  • 15 – Dallas
    Airtran B737, bird strike in the initial climb at about 400 feet; the crew continued the flight to destination; the aircraft received minor damage;
  • 17 – Sacramento
    Frontier A318, bird strike on approach; minor damages but next flight cancelled;
  • 27 – Goa
    Arkefly B767, rejected takeoff after an engine ingested a bird; the engine received damage; flight cancelled; http://www.asianage.com/india/dutch-plane-aborts-goa-take-after-bird-strike-898
  • 28 Baltimore
    Southwest B737, on approach the aircraft flew through a flock of birds and suffered a number of bird strikes; minor damage to the leading edge;
  • 28 – Gibraltar
    Monarch A320, bird strike on landing; next flight delayed due to aircraft inspection;
  • 28 – Yellowknife
    Air Canada Jazz CRJ 200, on landing struck a snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca); the aircraft received a large dent on the leading edge of the right hand wing;
  • 31 – Hamburg
    Condor B757, in the initial climb the aircraft flew through a flock of birds and ingested at least one bird into the left engine; the crew shut the engine down and returned immediately to Hamburg;

 
A study on the relationship between bird strikes and aircraft fuselage color
Does it exist a relationship between bird strikes and aircraft colors? Or can a certain fuselage color increase the degree of visibility of aircrafts by birds and thus decrease the number of impacts? A very recent study tries to give an answer to these questions; we are pleased to publish on our website the article "Bird Strikes and aircraft fuselage color: a Correlational Study" by Juricic, Gaffney, Blackwell and Baumhardt.

The researchers conclude that, apart from always possible biases, such a correlation exists: there might be a problem with the visibility of darker fuselages and timing of detection by birds. They consequently need longer reaction times to avoid aircrafts. This statement should not be considered as definitive however as further experimental researches are needed.

Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, a researcher at Purdue University in Indiana, is known to Italian bird strike experts for having presented in 2009 at the meeting of the North American BSCs held in Victoria, together with Dr. A. Montemaggiori and Dr. P. Iori, a study on the response of gulls to the Italian designed remote control aircraft "Falco Robot GBRS (©).

 
A case to reflect over
How vague and unreliable can be the reporting and counting of bird strike events in the world is well known; a further confirmation comes from Ukraine, where the local Ministry of Transportation released its monthly newsletter (http://new.avia. gov.ua/uploads/documents/8087.pdf - text only in Ukrainian) in which is reported a case occurred in September and quite unknown even to those who follow these events professionally.

On 12.9.2011 the crew of a Dniproavia Boeing 737 taking off from Odessa, after the rotation felt a brief change in the right engine parameters, followed by vibrations. Since these were within allowed limits, they continued to the destination (Kiev). A subsequent inspection after flight allowed to detect the cause of the vibrations, attributed to the ingestion of one or more birds in the engine that caused damages to three compressor blades (No. 32.33 and 34).

We do not know if the crew immediately thought of a bird strike and upon what considerations they decided to continue the flight. We know however that ingestions of this type may cause more serious consequences than vibrations even hours after the event.

Therefore we still continue to believe that in every case of suspected bird ingestion the aircraft operator should command in its flight manuals the immediate return as a standard precaution for an accurate damage assessment.

 
13° North American Bird Strike Conference: the presentations
We inform that the presentations from the Niagara Falls conference can be downloaded clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

 
Relevant events of September 2011
This month shows a remarkable number of events, some of them really serious. The first one occurred in an Italian airport on the 4th of September when it was reported the eleventh case over four years of a twin engine aircraft with both engines involved in a bird ingestion. The event occurred after the take off, but fortunately the engines still continued to give their thrust. The ANSV did not start a technical investigation yet.
 
Outstanding are also the three cases over two days occurred at Lajes airport (Acores), probably due to reportedly relevant migratory bird movements in that area.
The event of the 21st in Norway allows Wideroe Airline to proudly say “they take bird strikes very seriously”, because of their decision to divert the flight to an airport more suitable than the scheduled one. It is a rare case of an airline with a policy for managing these events, policy that we hope will be adopted also by other airlines.

The occurrence of the 24 September in Brasil strictly speaking should be considered an accident, having caused injures to a passenger during the aircraft evacuation because of a fire following a rejected take off. Two more bird strikes again in the US on days 25 and 26: the first one points out once again the geese problem, in this case even inside Oakland airport. The second lets us suspect a twelfth case of dual ingestion, considering the damages also on the right engine, after the left one had all fan blades damaged and three fractured. At the moment no more information about this incident is available.

At last an uncommon impact with a heavy mammal (wild boar) occurred in Rumania, that highlights again the requirement of fence maintenance as the basic form of prevention against wildlife strikes.
  • 1 – Istanbul
    Uzbekistan Airlines B757, after take off flew through a flock of birds and the left engine ingested a bird; immediate return and flight cancelled;
  • 4 – Dallas
    Virgin America A319, rejected takeoff at high speed after the aircraft accelerated through a flock of birds and suffered multiple bird strikes; no damage to the aircraft, however both left main gear tyres were replaced;
  • 4 – Palermo
    Air One A320, flew through a flock of sea gulls and ingested birds into the engines during the initial climb; immediate return; 11 fan blades in both engines were damaged;
  • 4 – Seattle
    Sun Country Airlines B737, bird strike when on final approach; minor damages;
  • 5 – Lajes
    TAP A319, on final approach struck one or more birds;
  • 6 – Lajes
    TAP A330, on final approach ingested two birds in the left engine and a third struck the right main gear; aircraft severely damaged and a team of seven technicians were dispatched to Lajes to repair the damages;
  • 6 – Lajes
    SATA A310 on final approach an engine ingested a bird; the bird strike was discovered only during an inspection after landing; next flight cancelled; a following borescopic inspection found no damage inside the engine; the airport reported an unusual number of migratory birds around the aerodrome;
  • 8 – Budapest
    Lufthansa A319, bird strike on final, go around and safe landing;
  • 10 – Ontario
    Skywest CRJ 700, on short final struck a bird; minor damage to the leading edge of a wing;
  • 14 – Bogota
    Avianca F100, a bird hit one of the engines after take off; immediate return;
  • 15 – Ahmedabad
    Spicejet B737, on approach a kite impacted the nose cone of the aircraft that received a dent of about 35cm in diameter; the weather radar also got damaged;
  • 17 – St. Petersburg
    Rossiya B737, a bird impacted an engine after take off; the aircraft entered a holding to burn off fuel and returned for landing;
  • 21 – Namsos
    Wideroe Dash 8, on final approach two geese hit the aircraft; the crew aborted the approach and decided to divert to Trondheim for a safe landing; the airline said, the aircraft diverted to Trondheim according to standard operating procedures that do take bird strikes very seriously;
  • 22 – New York (La Guardia)
    Delta A319, at take off the right engine ingested a bird causing an immediate diversion to JFK airport;
  • 23 - Perth
    Qantas A330, during the initial climb flew through a flock of birds ingesting a number of them into the left engine, that emitted a loud bang and streak of flames as result; immediate return;
  • 24 - Sao Jose do Rio Preto
    Azul Linhas Aereas ATR72, rejected takeoff at high speed after the captain noticed birds on the runway; while taxiing to the holding point of the runway for another takeoff attempt the brakes overheated resulting in a brakes fire; antifire services responded and put the fire out while the aircraft was evacuated causing knee injuries to one passenger;
  • 25 – Oakland
    Alaska B737, during the rotation the aircraft went through of a big flock of geese and ingested a number into the right hand engine; immediate return; a good number of engine parts and birds were found on the runway, picked up and sweeped before the aircraft landed safely back; http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/09/25/plane-makes-emergency-landing-in-oakland-following-bird-strike/
  • 26 – Denver
    United Airlines B757, on landing the aircraft ingested birds into the left engine during the rollout ; all fan blades of the left hand engine were damaged, three of them fractured; the inlet cowl showed numerous impact marks on the inner barrel skin with two through penetrations forward of the fan case; impact marks, however no penetrations, were also reported on the right hand engine's inlet cowl and on the fuselage with scrape marks on passenger windows.
  • 27 – Newark
    Continental B757, climbing through 10,000 feet the left hand engine ingested a bird; immediate return with reduced thrust from the engine involved;
  • 29 – Iasi
    Tarom ATR 72, during the rollout the aircraft collided with a wild boar;

 
Multiple bird strike with double ingestion at Palermo
On the 4th of September an Air One A320 in service from Palermo to Milan Malpensa with 177 people on board flew through a flock of sea gulls during the initial climb, and ingested some birds in both engines. The aircraft returned immediately to Palermo for a safe landing without further damages. An inspection revealed that a total of 11 fan blades in both engines were damaged as result of the bird strikes.

This is the eleventh case of bird strike involving both engines of a twin engine aircraft in the last four years: too many to say that is a rare or exceptional event, as somebody still states. As it is possible to see in the following updated list, four events occurred in Italy. We believe it’s time for a profound reflection.
  • 07/07/2007: Roma Fiumicino, Delta B767;
  • 03/08/2008: Burgas, Balkan Holidays A320;
  • 10/11/2008: Roma Ciampino, Ryanair B737;
  • 14/11/2008: Kansas City, Frontier A319;
  • 15/01/2009: New York, UsAir A320
  • 19/10/2009: Knock, Bmibaby B737;
  • 29/09/2009: Trapani, Ryanair B737;
  • 16/10/2010: Malaga, Easyjet Switzerland A 319
  • 20/06/2011: Funchal, SATA A320
  • 30/06/2011: Charlotte, USAir B737
  • 04/09/2011: Palermo, Air One A320

 
Article from Boeing about strategies for prevention of bird strikes
The Boeing company published on their magazine Aero an interesting article on bird strike prevention. Recently we pointed out some lack of policies for a specific training on this topic for pilots, ATC controllers and airlines. Therefore we present with pleasure this useful step towards information dissemination and a better understanding of the problem.

 
Relevant events of August 2011
Three cases of rejected take-off due to bird strikes on the runway (2nd, 8th and 9th of August) in three different continents are an indicator that the problem of birds at airports is not a geographically localized matter. Three cases that once again raise the question of the bird detection, pilot information, and bird dispersal before starting take-off procedures. Especially when, as in two cases out of three, we are talking about large flocks of bird. In a fourth case (21st of August) the airplane flew through a flock still on the runway but then managed to take off and diverted immediately to another airport due to unspecified problems.
 
The question regards the roles of the various subjects involved (ATC, airport operator, flight crew, airlines), their organization, their training, the regulation they gave themselves to face this kind of events. Even though it is not possible to exclude fortuitous cases or inevitable circumstances, however the presence of flock of birds near active runways should be considered a rare exception and not a repetitive event. Finally no case of flight continued after a bird strike has been reported this month, even in absence of abnormal parameters, as in the Calgary event (3rd of August).
  • 2 – Sylhet
    Biman Bangladesh A310, rejected takeoff as the aircraft accelerated through a flock of birds receiving a number of bird hits; two left main wheel tyres deflated during deceleration; one of the engines ingested a bird and received damage to a number of fan blades;
  • 3 – Calgary
    WestJet B737, just after lift-off impacted with a flock of pigeons; immediate return even in absence of abnormal parameters; 20 dead birds found on the runway; a fan blade of the right hand engine needed to be replaced;
  • 8 – Kirkwall
    Loganair Saab 340B, was accelerating for takeoff when a large bird impacted the right hand wing; rejected takeoff but no damage reported;
  • 9 – Valencia (Venezuela)
    Avior B737, was accelerating for takeoff f when the right engine ingested a number of birds and emitted a loud bang prompting the crew to reject takeoff at high speed; flight cancelled;
  • 12 – Austin
    American MD83, in the initial climb a large bird struck the aircraft's nose and left engine; immediate return and next flight cancelled;
  • 13- Dallas
    American MD82, multiple impact during the approach; undetermined damages to wing, radome and engines;
  • 20 – Lucknow
    Air India A319, bird strike after take off crossing 2000 ft; immediate return;
  • 21 – Magdeburg/Cochstedt
    Ryanair B737, during the initial climb reports technical problems; a following runway inspection revealed a number of dead birds on the runway; diversion to Weeze;
  • 29 – Amsterdam
    KLM Cityhopper ERJ 190, after take-off was struck by a bird resulting in problems with the nose gear; immediate return and aircraft replacement;
  • 29 – Orlando
    AirTran B717, during the final approach a bird hit the vertical stabilizer causing minor damages;

 
Relevant events of July 2011
Once again bird ingestions into the engines, generally well managed by flight crew, proved to be the majority of bird strike events that media report. However sometimes we still can see behaviours based on the fact that if no abnormal parameters are immediately shown by the instruments after an impact, the flight must go on. In the case of the day 20 it is understandable the 747 crew reluctance to dump fuel to land immediately within the maximum allowed landing weight. However crossing the Atlantic ocean after having run over the top of geese, without having clear awareness of the possible damages, does not seem the best choice. Moreover when damages are actually found out on arrival.

Mammals, in particular deer in the USA, still represent a big problem especially in little airports (see the 4th of July). As for Italy, on 13 there was a strike with a “large” bird during the landing roll, that means on the runway. Neither official sources nor Italian media reported the event.
  • 2 – Heringsdorf
    Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter DH8D, during the approach the left engine ingested a bird; the airplane remained on the ground for 2 days as result;
  • 3 – Novosibirsk
    Vladivostok Avia A320, during the initial climb the right engine ingested a bird, reportedly a hawk; due to vibrations returned after having burnt off fuel in flight;
  • 4 - Brainerd
    Pinnacle Airlines CRJ2, during the landing roll struck two deer on the runway; damage to the landing gear doors and flaps; http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2011-07-05/taxiing-jet-hits-deer-airport#.ThcoTGEx0qM
  • 13- Milano
    Iberia A321, during the landing roll a large bird struck the left hand engine leaving impact marks at the cowling;
  • 16 – Sofia
    Olympic DH8D, rejected take off at high speed due to a bird strike;
  • 16 – Miami
    Avianca A320, during the take off run the right hand engine ingested a bird just above V1; the crew continued takeoff up to 5000 feet; however the right engine showed high vibrations; immediate landing with reduce thrust; minor damages to the engine;
  • 17 – Delhi
    Air India B777, climbing after take off the right engine showed abnormal indications; immediate return; anomalies caused by a suspected bird ingestion;
  • 20 – Orlando
    Virgin Atlantic B747, accelerated through a flock of birds on takeoff; after becoming airborne the crew reported they had run over the top of geese and requested the runway to be inspected; in the absence of abnormal indications the crew continued the flight; FAA reported the aircraft struck a bird and received "unknown damage";
  • 22 – Memphis
    American Airlines MD82, during the initial climb the left engine ingested birds that caused electric odour and vibrations; immediate return in emergency; minor damages to the aircraft;
  • 26 – Lincoln
    Expressjet E145, struck a bird while landing; damage to the leading edge of the right wing;
  • 29 – Paro
    Druk Air A319, during the initial climb flew through a flock of about 30 pigeons and ingested a number into the left engine; immediate return with only one engine; the engine received substantial damage to fan blades and further possible damage inside;
  • 31 – Dresda
    Air Berlin B737, during the approach struck a bird that caused damages to an engine and grounded the plane four days for repairs;
 
Relevant events occurred on June 2011
As it can be noticed, almost only ingestions of birds into the engines are now reported; of course bird strikes without ingestion are not decreasing, but simply they are no more reported by media, and it is a sign that the public opinion got accustomed to these events that no longer are newsworthy.

In this month however at least four events deserve a comment. In Dallas (13/6) a taking-off airplane struck a flock of pigeons standing on the runway. Another impact with a flock of birds at take off in Tehran (15/6) and again another flock of birds on the runway at Funchal (20/6), as also reported below. Finally at Charlotte (30/6) another multiple strike with ingestion into both engines, this time on landing. The runway resulted contaminated with bird carcasses, potentially dangerous but, despite this, other airplanes were incredibly cleared to land.

It is clearly coming to the light that the main risk is posed by the great concentrations of birds, even if it is hard to understand how a flock of birds can be allowed to stand and settle on a runway, as observed in two cases above. Also worrying are the recurrent events of both engines affected or damaged (in twin engine aircrafts), as it results in the following updated list:
 
  • 07/07/2007: Roma Fiumicino, Delta B767;
  • 03/08/2008: Burgas, Balkan Holidays A320;
  • 10/11/2008: Roma Ciampino, Ryanair B737;
  • 14/11/2008: Kansas City, Frontier A319;
  • 15/01/2009: New York, UsAir A320
  • 19/10/2009: Knock, Bmibaby B737;
  • 29/09/2009: Trapani, Ryanair B737;
  • 16/10/2010: Malaga, Easyjet Switzerland A 319
  • 20/06/2011: Funchal, SATA A320
  • 30/06/2011: Charlotte, USAir B737
We believe that a lot of work is still to be done on matters like the role of the airport stakeholders regarding bird strike prevention, staff education and training, control and, of course, regulation.
 
  • 1 – Patna
    Jetlite B737, ingested a bird into an engine; next flight delayed; http://www.patnadaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3299:jetlite-flight-scare-hit-by-bird&catid=56:more-news&Itemid=236
  • 1 – Lodz
    Ryanair B737, after take off a sea gull was ingested by the right engine; immediate return; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-02/ryanair-737-returns-to-polish-airport-after-bird-strike-incident.html?cmpid=msnmoney
  • 2 – Nashville
    Southwest Airlines B737, during the initial climb at about 1600 ft. a large bird hit the fuselage just above the windshield; precautionary return and minor damages;
  • 6 - Denver
    Frontier A319, right engine ingested a bird at take off; precautionary landing;
  • 8 – Astrakhan
    Nordavia B737, ingested a bird into one engine during the landing roll; next flight delayed;
  • 9 – Auckland
    Air New Zealand B767, climbing through 1800 feet the left hand engine ingested a bird and emitted repeated bangs associated with streaks of flames; engine shut down and immediate return;
  • 9 – Chicago
    Jetblue ERJ190, accelerating through about 90 knots, a bird struck the aircraft prompting the crew to reject takeoff;
  • 13 – Dallas
    American Airlines MD82, flew through a flock of birds still over the runway and suffered a number of impacts on the nose and the right wing; emergency landing; more than 20 dead birds were removed from the runway and very likely identified as Rock Pigeons (Columba livia); http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/AA-Jet-Struck-By-Birds-at-DFW-Airport-Makes-Emergency-Landing-123790969.html
  • 15 – Tehran
    Iran Aseman Airlines ATR72, flew through a flock of birds on departure and received a couple of bird strikes; precautionary landing;
  • 17 – Budapest
    Tarom ATR42, after take off at about 1000 ft. the right engine struck one or more birds, emitted screeching sounds as well as smoke and stopped; immediate landing on the opposite runway;
  • 20 – Funchal
    SATA A320, after rotation the airplane flew through a flock of sea gulls sitting on the runway that suddenly flew up causing a number of birds being ingested into both engines; then vibrations followed; immediate landing; both fans needed replacement of almost half the number of fan blades; http://airbusdeliveries.blogspot.com/2011/06/airbus-updates-no321.html
  • 22 – Wuhan
    China Eastern B737, in the initial climb the left hand engine ingested a bird causing the engine to vibrate; after a 70 min. flight for burning off fuel, landed in the departure airport; found serious deformations to a number of fan blades with presence of blood and feathers;
  • 25 – Samos
    SAS A319, a post flight inspection revealed evidence of a bird strike with a sea gull; next flight delayed;
  • 25 – Bhubaneswar
    Air India A321, while on approach an engine ingested a bird; next flight delayed 10 hours to replace 4 fan blades;
  • 27 – Eindhoven
    Wizzair A320, the crew suspected a bird strike might have happened during approach; a post flight inspection revealed that the right hand engine ingested a bird; next flight cancelled;
  • 30 – Charlotte
    US Airways B737, multiple bird strike during the landing roll with both engines ingesting birds; a number of aircraft landed afterwards with the bird carcasses still on the runway; the extent of damage to both engines is to be determined;

 
Bird ingestion into both engines at Funchal
Another case of multiple bird strike with ingestion in both engines occurred on the morning of 20 June at Funchal airport. The SATA aircraft Airbus A320 in service from Funchal to Copenhagen, after rotation flew through a flock of sea gulls that were reportedly sitting on the runway. The aircraft was struck in several points, on the fuselage, on the wings and on the landing gear, and a number of birds were ingested in both engines causing vibrations but not a significant loss of power.

The airplane landed immediately after about 15 minutes from take off. During roll out the forward cargo door was observed open, probably because of the strike of a bird which hit the door handle causing the rotation of the handle into the open position. Both fans needed replacement of almost half the number of fan blades; however boroscopic inspections revealed no damage in the compressors, combustion chambers or turbines. (Source: www.avherald.com)

Airport sources report that some bird dispersal means are available, including ultra-sound devices, that however did not avoid this occurrence, and even lethal methods,, like firearms.

This is the 8th known event of bird ingestion involving both engines of a twin engine airplane in the last four years, making quite difficult to consider them “very rare” or “improbable” as sometimes they were defined even by aviation officials. Following are the precedents, as reported many times in this website:
 
  • 07/07/2007: Roma Fiumicino, Delta B767;
  • 03/08/2008: Burgas, Balkan Holidays A320;
  • 10/11/2008: Roma Ciampino, Ryanair B737;
  • 14/11/2008: Kansas City, Frontier A319;
  • 19/10/2009: Knock, Bmibaby B737;
  • 29/09/2009, Trapani, Ryanair B737;
  • 16/10/2010, Malaga, Easyjet Switzerland A 319

The Portuguese Authority released a preliminary report http://www.gpiaa.gov.pt/tempfiles/20110622142318moptc.pdf

 
Relevant events of May 2011
We still have to highlight a case of undervaluation of a bird ingestion effects. The case we are referring to occurred on 8 May in Nigeria and is reported below. We notice however that after the company Managing Director praised the crew “for displaying a high sense of professionalism”, the Nigerian CAA suspended the licences of the two pilots that flew the plane for more than one hour with one engine only.

However we wonder if it is correct to charge the pilots with all the supposed responsibility or if it would be more appropriate to take into consideration issues like the company safety policy and the crew training programmes with regard to bird strike events.

In this connection, some eyewitnesses confirmed that the bird strike of 14 April to a Philippine Airlines B777 occurred upon take off at Manila, and not on approach to Vancouver, as the Philippine press stated immediately after the event. That means that the airplane (a twin engine) crossed the Pacific after a bird ingestion into one engine. Engine that needed to be changed after a week of maintenance works.

The considerations above are still valid. At last, the Medellin event (23 May) should lead us to reflect upon the importance of controlling the areas surrounding an airport and their land use.
  • 3 – Beirut
    BMI A321, rejected takeoff at high speed after an engine ingested a bird;
  • 6 – Bucarest
    Wizzair A320, ingested a bird into an engine while in the initial climb; immediate return and flight cancelled;
  • 6 – Winnipeg
    Skywest CRJ200, multiple bird strike at take off; after rotation the right engine showed increasing vibration levels; immediate return; damage to 7 fan blades of the right hand engine that needed to be replaced;
  • 8 – Owerri
    Arik B737, after take-off the right hand engine ingested a bird; in the absence of any abnormal indications at first the crew decided to continue the flight; while en-route the engine developed serious vibrations prompting the crew to shut it down;
  • 9 – New Orleans
    Continental B737, descending through 11500 feet the crew reported a bird strike; damage to the radome;
  • 9 – Atlanta
    Delta MD88, was climbing out o when the crew reported they needed to shut the left hand engine down due to a bird strike; precautionary landing;
    http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=14603123
  • 11 – Los Angeles
    Continental B737, bird strike onto the nose gear during the flare; minor damage to the nose gear wheel well;
  • 14 – New York
    Jetblue A320, the right engine struck a bird on takeoff; emergency landing;
  • 19 – Tivat
    Montenegro F100, after touch-down an eagle impacted the nose cone causing a substantial dent in the radome;
  • 20 – Zurich
    Contact Air Fokker 100, at take off struck a bird; immediate return; flight cancelled;
  • 21 – Graz
    Lufthansa Cityline ERJ-190, rejected takeoff after the right hand engine ingested a bird; flight cancelled;
  • 22 – Athens
    Aegean A321, bird strike at take-off; precautionary landing;
  • 23 – Medellin
    Aerolinea de Antioquia BAe Jetstream 32, struck a buzzard after take-off; precautionary return; damage to one of the wings; the presence of a number of buzzard was due to a dead animal in a trash bag in an area close to the airport attracting the buzzards who were circling over; the airport was closed for about 3 hours until the cause of the buzzards circling the area was spotted and the dead animal was removed;
  • 30 – Athens
    Air France A320, after take off climbing through 4000 feet reported a sea gull had impacted the left engine; then reported some abnormal engine parameters and vibration of the engine and decided to return;
  • 30 – Bridgetown
    British Airways B777, struck a bird on approach; next flight delayed 30 hours for maintenance;

     
SAACA released the final report on the wildlife strike of 16.7.2010 at Kimberly (South Africa)
In the monthly report of July 2010 we informed about the incident occurred to a SA Airways DH8C that struck an aardvark on a night landing, suffering serious damages. South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority released now (in less than one year!) their final report that we think it might be interesting also for other situations and environments.

 
Relevant events of April 2011
Spring has come in the Northern Hemisphere, and the number of bird strikes inevitably increases. This month we noticed frequent impacts with large and heavy birds; the most relevant seems to be that occurred on the 1st of April (see photo below) in the USA, when a twin jet aircraft still at high altitude flew through a flock of supposedly Pelicans. That is one of the worst events that may happen, birds that due to their mass and weight can cause catastrophic effects.

On the same day and again in the USA two people were injured, rare event, following the impact of a small helicopter with an unspecified bird. We remind that the certification requirements for helicopters (and light aircrafts) are far below those requested for commercial airplanes, so that a requirement review is invoked.

But the most astonishing event regards a brand new B777 taking off from Manila (14 April), the right engine of which ingested a bird; the crew, in the absence of abnormal engine indications, decided to continue the flight crossing the Pacific ocean, and discovering only after a safe landing that the engine needed to be changed. Press sources from the country of aircraft wrote that the event occurred on landing in Canada, but many other reliable sources confirmed that it happened exactly where it has been reported.

By the way, that airline is on the EU “black list” but this cannot lead to underestimate the seriousness of the incident. We remind once again that post-ingestion engine problems may arise hours and even days after the event. Once again airline safety policy issues arise, as well as crew professional formation and training. Then we had strikes with vultures (3 and 26 April) and with Bald Eagles, national emblem of the USA (20 and 26 April). At last, as reported early this year, some American airports (Sacramento, Orlando) still register relevant events of bird strike, probably due to their geographical and environmental location.
 
  • 1 – Little Rock
    Atlantic Southeast Airlines, CRJ-200, on approach about 15nm east of the aerodrome collided with a flock of large birds, supposedly pelicans; landed in emergency with substantial damage and a bird embedded in the nose cone;
    (Photos AP/Little Rock Airport)




  • 1 – San Antonio (TX)
    pvt. Robinson R44, during the approach a bird flew through the helicopter’s windshield and hit the pilot and his passenger causing minor injuries; emergency landing on the I-37;
  • 3- Aracaju
    GOL B737, on approach a vulture (prob. Coragyps atratus) impacted the airplane's nose gear causing the nose wheel steering to fail;
  • 6 – Portland
    Skywest CRJ7, struck a bird upon rotation, strong smell on board and precautionary landing;
  • 9 – Sacramento
    Alaska Airlines B737, on landing a bird hit the left wing tip; no damage;
  • 9 – Sacramento
    Alaska Airlines B737, at take off a gull was ingested into one engine; precautionary landing; it was the same aircraft of the strike above;
    http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/04/09/flight-returns-to-sacramento-after-bird-strike/
  • 14 – Shannon
    Sun-Air Do 328, ingested a bird into an engine while on approach; next flight cancelled;
  • 14 – Manila
    Philippine Airlines B777, at take off to Vancouver ingested a bird into the right hand engine; nn the absence of abnormal engine indications the crew decided to continue the flight; the return flight had to be cancelled awaiting an engine change;
  • 20 – Houston
    Continental B737, suffered a bird strike on its nose while climbing; precautionary landing but no damage reported;
  • 20 - Houston
    Skywest Airlines CRJ700, struck a bird on landing roll; minor damages;
  • 20 – Orlando
    Thomson B767, at take off ingested a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) into the left hand engine; despite visible damage however the engine did not quit working and was not shut down; precautionary return;
  • 20 – Ahmedabad
    Spicejet B737, on final a bat was ingested into one engine;
  • 23 – Orlando
    Allegiant MD83, bird strike at about 1000 feet after take-off; precautionary return, no damage;
  • 23 – St. Petersburg
    Air France A319, rejected take off at high speed after an engine ingested a bird; flight cancelled;
  • 23 – Amsterdam
    Onur Air A320, after take off a pigeon hit the hinge of the right hand nose gear door causing all gear doors to remain open; return to the airport;
  • 24 – Tunis
    Tunis Air B737, ingested sea gulls into the left hand engine at take off; precautionary landing; the aircraft had to be replaced;
  • 25 – Salt Lake City
    Delta A319, on final approach the aircraft ingested a bird into the left hand engine; minor damages;
  • 26 – Georgetown
    Caribbean Airlines B737, climbing through 3000 feet after take off a vulture was ingested into the left hand engine; returned with only one engine running; a number of fan blades were bent;
  • 26 – Norfolk
    Air Wisconsin CRJ200, on final approach to Norfolk's the aircraft struck a female bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) causing damage to the landing gear; the bird was rather famous as continuously monitored by the local Botanical Garden's webcam;
    (photo Duane Noblick from Avherald.com)



  • 28 – Moscow
    Aeroflot A319, after take off at about 3000 feet the right hand engine ingested a bird; precautionary landing;
  • 28 – Alexandria
    Kuwait Airways A300, at take off a large bird impacted the aircraft's windshield causing the windshield to crack; precautionary landing;

 

 
Relevant events of March 2011
Talking about this month we could dare to say “routine administration”, at least in terms of absolute numbers: nine ingestions into engines, at least seven confirmed during or immediately after take-off. At least that is what has been reported in this month on the aviation press, from where this website takes the news about the bird strikes. However we have the feeling that, apart from the traditional 70/80% of completely unreported strikes, the so called “dark number”, there is a tendency to minimize the “minor” impacts, those that do not cause serious damages or direct consequences to the flight. In other words, we all are getting into the habit to consider them as “normal”. We think that assessing the bird strike problem only in quantitative terms is a mistake, partly because the strikes differ in function of the mass of the bird struck, but mainly because it does not face the true question that is the presence of birds in or in the vicinity of airports. Flying safely through a flock of birds does not increase the strike rate, but it cannot lead to the conclusion that everything is going well.
 
  • 2 – Shiraz
    Mahan Air A310, at take off the right hand engine ingested a bird; the crew needed to shut it down and returned for landing;
  • 4 – Punta Cana
    Transaero B747, at take off a bird was ingested into one of the engines; precautionary landing;
  • 5 – Orlando
    Southwest B737, multiple bird strike after take off; precautionary landing;
  • 10 – Jaipur
    Spicejet B737, a bird strike at take off with a loud bang, abnormal indications and smoke released, forced the crew to shut the right engine; immediate landing;
  • 15, Los Angeles
    Air Canada A320, after take off at 400 ft. the left engine ingested a bird then surged repeatedly in rapid succession accompanied by compressor stalls; the engine automatically recovered about 3-5 seconds later and the crew decided to divert to Ontario,CA; damage to the low and high pressure compressors that caused the engine replacement;
  • 16 – Fort Myers
    Delta B757, at take off ingested a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and rejected take off from high speed; flight cancelled;
  • 21 – Coolangatta
    Virgin Blue B737, at take off hit birds and diverted immediately to Brisbane for a precautionary landing; next flight cancelled, a bird hit an engine;
  • 21 – Busan
    Air Busan B737, ingested a bird into its right engine; both engines continued to deliver thrust but the crew returned for a precautionary landing; damage to one fan blade;
  • 26 – Rio de Janeiro
    TAM A319, rejected take-off at high speed following a bird ingestion into one of the engines; flight cancelled;
  • 27 – Funchal
    Easyjet A319, in a post flight inspection it was discovered that a large bird had been ingested by one of the engines causing damage to the engine; next flight cancelled;

 
The US DoT announces an audit on FAA Wildlife Hazard Mitigation Program
With a memorandum of 15 March 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) announce an audit on FAA with the following objectives: assess the effectiveness of FAA’s a) policies and guidance for monitoring, reporting, and mitigating wildlife hazards; b) coordination with Federal, state, and local government agencies responsible for reducing wildlife hazards; c) oversight and enforcement of airports’ adherence to wildlife hazard reporting, assessment requirements, and implementation of wildlife hazard management plans.

The DoT step follows the increase of the public interest in the FAA Wildlife Hazard Mitigation Program after the January 2009 bird strike that caused the crew of US Airways flight 1549 to land in the Hudson River. Public interest remains high due to two recent wildlife strikes, on 28 February 2011, when an aircraft experienced an engine failure and made an emergency landing after the aircraft struck birds during departure from Washington National Airport, and on 8 November 2010 when the crew declared an emergency after a bird strike substantially damaged the aircraft’s right wing during approach to Los Angeles International Airport (both events are cited in this website in the monthly reports). According to the DoT, these events demonstrate a serious aviation safety issue, even if the threat of aircraft collisions with wildlife is not new. By the way, data show that the number of wildlife strikes is on the rise, increasing from 1,759 strikes in 1990 to 9,474 in 2009. Just few months ago the FAA, through its Director of Airport Safety Mike O‟Donnell, declared that birdstrikes are not a great risk. We might wonder if the DoT initiative has been adopted also thanks to this statement.

Reasoning upon the events which caused an increase of the American public interest in the threat posed by birds (there were articles, TV talks, press investigations), we may observe that just one out of the three events cited by DoT regarded failures to both engines and the loss of the aircraft . If we try to list a personal rank of the most serious occurrences occurred in Italy following bird strikes, we note that our situation is even worse. The most serious event is surely that occurred at Rome Ciampino on 10 November 2008, when a Ryanair Boeing 737 on landing flew through a flock of starlings and hit heavily the ground. The aircraft was then written off. Before this we had the case of Delta B757 at Rome Fiumicino (7.7.2007) when after a multiple bird strike at take off with a flock of gulls, the crew was forced to an emergency landing with both engines damaged; a similar event occurred in Trapani on 29.9.2009, when another Ryanair B737 had to declare an emergency due to failures and problems to both engines.

Among the cases of emergency landing with only one running engine due to bird ingestion we can add those of Meridiana at Florence (14.7.2009), Wind Jet at Parma (1.8.2009) and Lufthansa again at Florence (16.11.2010). Furthermore almost one third of Italian airports in the 2009 did not comply yet with the current regulation concerning the airport wildlife prevention plan, and that the number of bird strikes increased from 348 in 2002 to 851 in 2009. Therefore there are surely reasons in Italy to raise the public interest in the strategies deployed in order to mitigate the bird hazard; however the Italian public opinion does not seem to react in the same way than the Americans do. And this does not appear to be a good thing because, even not adopting measures like DoT did, a little inquisitorial -to be frank- , a moment for reflection and assessment of the strategy effectiveness seems to be needed here too. The Bird Strike Committee Italy was established in the year 1993 and in these years, starting from scratch, made a good job in terms of regulation, monitoring, awareness and controls, especially after its reorganization as an ENAC department. In spite of this, numbers and seriousness of wildlife strikes do not decrease and in 2009 the national impact average (5,2) for the first time resulted above the level fixed by the Aviation Authority (5,0), even if this methodology appears now quite obsolete.

This situation, according to ENAC itself, is coherent with an increase of bird presence on or in the vicinity of airports. Therefore the problem of bird strikes in Italy is far to be under control, and so all steps for reversing this tendency are welcome.
 
 
Relevant events of February 2011
Reading the following monthly list, the first remarkable event is that occurred at Puerto Vallarta. This demonstrates once again that a bird ingestion into a jet engine, and more in general a bird strike, is a serious matter that requires an immediate thorough assessment. In many cases the ingestion consequences and the related problems appeared after hours, and sometimes after days, of normal engine running The other remarkable case has been reported to happen at Rome Fiumicino. However some sources (passengers on board) say the impact happened immediately after take off from Addis Ababa, with the left engine emitting sparks. The crew however said that since all the systems appeared to be operating normally, they would continue onto Rome. After the landing, the engineers realized that the next leg to London was not possible any more. Assuming that this version is true, the previous comments are still valid.
 
  • 1 – Puerto Vallarta
    Air Transat A310, suffered a bird strike on short final; a first inspection found evidence of the bird strike but no damage and released the aircraft to flight for the return leg; after take-off at 5000 ft. a rumbling noise and vibrations were observed and the crew decided to return; maintenance now found "possible damage" at the trailing edges of some blades of the N1 fan;
  • 6 – San Paulo (Garulhos)
    TAM A320, about 10 minutes prior to landing a loud thud from the front of the aircraft was heard caused by the impact with a large bird (see picture, source Avherald);


  • 9 – Ahmedabad
    Finnair B757, in the initial climb a bird was ingested in the left engine; precautionary landing;
  • 9 – Van
    Sun Express B737, in the initial climb a bird was ingested in the right engine; precautionary landing;
  • 10 – Rome
    Ethiopian B757, bird strike when on approach; next leg cancelled;
  • 14 – Denver
    Frontier A318, the left engine ingested a bird at take off; emergency landing;
  • 21 – Buenos Aires
    Lufthansa B747, ingested a bird into one of the engines while climbing; precautionary landing;
  • 25 – Athens
    Air France A319, at take-off struck a yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis); precautionary landing;
 
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