B.A.S.H. Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard

The first documented bird strike was made by Orville Wright during a flight near Dayton, Ohio in 1905. Bird strikes have caused millions of dollars in damages to aircraft and loss of human life. Calbraith Rodgers, the first pilot to fly across the continental United States, ironically was also the first to die as a result of a bird strike. In 1912, he struck a gull, causing his plane to crash into the water at Long Beach, California. Recently bird strikes have been given heightened notoriety in the public due to the well publicized incident at La Guardia Airport, when both engines of an Airbus A320 were disabled by several birds being sucked into them. The pilot of the US Airways Flight 1549 landed the aircraft safely into the Hudson River, where all 150 passengers survived. Bird Aircraft Strike Hazards are of particular importance to me because about five times a month I work on the flight line at MCBH Kaneohe Bay. About once every other month I am asked to retrieve bird remains from the runway or notify air traffic control of populations of birds intruding our flight area. I have to locate all parts of the bird’s body, place the remains in a bag, and then give them to air traffic control for further investigation. The investigation usually takes place by trained wildlife biologists working at the airport. If not identifiable, The Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Laboratory is then given the remains for further analysis. Today, because of the damage of aircraft and loss of life there are many factors affecting today's bird and aviation safety. These factors are. 1) The less noisy, more technological advanced jets, have replaced the noisier and slower piston-powered aircraft; therefore there has been an increased chance of collision. 2) There has been an increase in all air travel across the globe, both military and commercial. 3) Many modern airports are built around natural habitat areas. The have been over 100,000 wildlife strikes between the years of 1990 and 2008 Light hours account for a majority of bird strikes. They also occur more frequently during July and October. The reported costs of a bird strike averages $123 million per year but when costs are estimated based on 80% of bird strikes that were not reported the cost could be as high as $614 million per year. The Bird Aircraft Standard Hazard is so important. “There is also myths and legends of a bird strike. “Myth - Bird strikes cannot cause serious airline accidents.” “Fact - Since 1975, nine large jet airliners have had major accidents where bird strikes played a significant role. In one case, about three dozen people were killed.” Myth - Bird strikes are no more of a problem today than 20 or 30 years ago.” “Fact - In North America, bird strike hazards are increasing. Because of outstanding wildlife conservation and environmental programs in North America, populations of many bird species have increased dramatically since the 1970s. Millions of acres have been set aside as wildlife refuges and strong environmental laws such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act have protected birds and other wildlife. As a result, species like non-migratory Canada Geese, which frequent urban areas such as golf courses, parks, and airports, have more than quadrupled in number from 1985 to 2008. As another example, the double-crested cormorant population on the Great Lakes has increased over 1,000-fold, from 89 nesting pairs in 1972 to over 100,000 pairs in 2009. These increases have led to an increase in the number of birds in the vicinity of both large and small airports and greater opportunities for birds, especially larger birds, to be hit by aircraft.”
One of the best tools for tracking bird movement is Radar. These radars are used in many ways to give both civilians and military effective data. Doppler can show both speed and direction of migrating birds. Use of the WSR-88D has been very successful in providing data to model bird activity in relation to Military Training. In the local airfield environment, mobile marine radars can track real-time movements of individual birds or flocks adjacent to and in a 6-8 mile radius of runways. The Air Force and Navy are developing and testing several “bird radars” to determine which models and configurations can best isolate specific locations of birds where aircraft operations can be modified and environmental management strategies applied to reduce the attractiveness to birds. Many remains are identified by trained wildlife biologists working at the airports. The Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Laboratory is able to identify a bird species from its remains. Depending on the condition of the remains, birds can be identified based on physical characteristics, feather fragments, and/or DNA analysis. The Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard is a very serious safety issue that all aviation needs to deal with on a daily basis. In my first instance of it I laughed because most people outside of the issue could not relate to the severity and life threatening effects of the complex problem. After taking in the facts my opinion has changed. B.A.S.H. is so important and at one time I thought it was stupid. I want the planes that I maintain and those who fly it to be heroes… like my friend He is a real hero!

Citation Page
Strike Committee USA Available at: http://www.birdstrike.org/commlink/top_ten.htm. Accessed March 28, 2010. http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/wildlife/downloads/2005_FAA_Manual_complete.pdf http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/wildlife/identification.aspx http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703625304575115583055288308.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5332/is_8_52/ai_n29199071/?tag=content;col1 http://www.104fw.ang.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123161523 http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/wildlife/downloads/2005_FAA_Manual_complete.pdf