Chapter 3 — The Real Danger: Bird Strikes

The most serious part of an encounter between birds and aircraft is not that the birds appear to be “following” the plane.

It is the possibility of a bird strike.

A bird strike happens when an aircraft collides with a bird. These incidents can occur at different stages of flight, but they are particularly relevant around airports because aircraft are operating relatively close to the ground.

The consequences vary enormously.

A small bird may cause little or no damage.

A larger bird, or a collision involving several birds, can potentially damage parts of an aircraft. The risk is especially important when birds are near engines, windshields, wings, or other vulnerable areas.

Aircraft engines are engineered to withstand certain levels of bird ingestion, and manufacturers conduct testing to evaluate performance under bird-strike conditions.

Nevertheless, no aircraft is completely immune to the effects of wildlife collisions.

This is why pilots, air-traffic controllers, airport operators, and wildlife-management teams all play roles in reducing the hazard.

Pilots receive information about reported bird activity and may adjust procedures when wildlife concentrations are identified.

Airports can use multiple wildlife-management techniques, depending on the location and species involved. These may include habitat management, removal of food sources, monitoring, bird-dispersal methods, and other measures designed to discourage wildlife from gathering close to aircraft movement areas.

The challenge is complicated because birds are not predictable machines.

A flock can change direction within seconds.

Weather can alter their movement.

Seasonal migration can bring enormous numbers of birds through an area.

And different species behave differently.

This is one reason aviation authorities take wildlife hazards seriously even when an individual encounter appears harmless.

A dramatic photograph showing an airplane surrounded by birds may look beautiful, but pilots would generally prefer to avoid such situations altogether.

There is also an important misconception worth correcting.

Birds do not necessarily recognize an aircraft as something they should follow or avoid in the same way humans understand vehicles.

Their responses can depend on speed, altitude, noise, visual cues, flock behavior, and environmental conditions.

An airplane may therefore pass near a flock without the birds reacting in the way a person might expect.

Sometimes they scatter.

Sometimes they continue along their route.

Sometimes the aircraft passes above or below them with no interaction.

The apparent choreography can be striking.

But behind that beautiful image is a very practical aviation problem: keeping wildlife and aircraft safely separated.