Birds Hit Planes Every Day, but Don't Usually Cause Crashes

Jan. 15, 2009— -- Birds fly into airplanes every day, and most do so without causing major damage.

It usually doesn't even register as turbulence, said John Ostrom, who chairs the Bird Strike Committee USA, formed in 1991 to analyze bird strike data and advise the aviation industry.

But bird strikes can be deadly, with more than 200 people killed since 1988 because of airborn collisions with birds, according to Ostrom's committee.

By a relatively rare fluke, a pair of bird strikes apparently disabled a US Airways jet today, sending it splashing into the icy Hudson River. All 150-plus passengers were reportedly safe after a quick rescue effort.

"There's a variety of ways a bird can take down an airplane," said Ostrom.

Birds can disable planes, Ostrom said, by flying into the engines and shutting them down. They can also penetrate the windshield or other parts of the fuselage, causing pilots to lose control.

And apparently when it comes to collisions with birds, size doesn't always matter.

"There have been instances where birds the size of robins bring a plane down, all the way up to Canada geese," Ostrom said, adding that a bird simply smacking into the side of a plane will not cause it to crash.

Even when birds don't cause death, injury or drama like today's Hudson River rescue, they do cost airplane owners money.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Web site on Airport Wildlife Mitigation says that bird strikes do more than $300 million of damage each year.

While there are wildlife mitigation options for airports, there's not much a pilot can do to avoid birds in the air.

"You're not going to move the airplane like you're moving a car or moving a bike," he said. "When you're moving something at 100 mph, it's pretty much straight on."