Wildlife Strike Mitigation Research
A Practical Application
As part of the Wildlife Strike Mitigation research, the FAA (AAR-410) is supporting the development of advanced bird identification techniques at the Smithsonian Institution located in Washington, DC. Positive bird identification is typically performed using bird remains and bird feathers and comparing these against the world’s largest database of bird feathers maintained by the Smithsonian Institution. Picture 1  shows the nodes and internodes a feather barbule. When necessary, DNA tests are used to make a positive determination. 

Picture 1 – Nodes and Internodes of Feather Barbule


These capabilities were fully utilized to determine the cause of a real-time event that occurred in late summer of 2000 and that was widely reported by the news media.

On August 27, 2000, a KLM Boeing 747 departed from the Los Angeles International airport with 449 on board. The departure path passes over Dockweiler State Beach located at the end of runway 25 R. Soon after take-off, 500 ft AGL, two distinct loud bang were heard and fire was observed coming out of the #3 engine. Witnesses reported seeing parts of the engine falling off. Picture 2 shows the outer cylinder of the engine exhaust nozzle landed on the beach about 35 ft from people. The flight crew declared an emergency, dumped 166,000 lbs of fuel and returned safely to the airport. (See Strike Report Details below.)

Picture 2 - Outer Cylinder of the Engine Exhaust Nozzle


First news reports theorized that the incident might have been caused by a bird strike. However since no bird was observed nor any bird carcass found on the ground, the theory of a bird strike was discarded by the news media after a few days. During the NTSB investigation however, small amounts of debris resembling feather down and bone fragment were indeed found. These remains were sent to the Smithsonian Institution and were positively identified as being those of a Western Gull, a species with a mean body mass of 2.25 lbs. It is noteworthy that the damaged engine (GE CFS-50E2) is certified to withstand a 4-lb bird ingestion with no uncontained failure.

Click for more pictures.

Such events illustrate the practical applications of the research conducted under the Wildlife Strike Mitigation program.
 
 

Details From Strike Report
Date: 
Operator:
Aircraft: 
Airport: 
Phase of Flight: 
Effect on Flight:
Damage: 
Wildlife Species: 		 27 August 2000
KLM
B-747
Los Angeles Intl.  (CA)
Climb (500’ AGL)
Emergency landing
Engine
Western gull
Comments from Report: At least one Western gull was ingested just after take-off.  Bystanders on a beach heard a giant backfire and saw the jet spewing 8- 10-ft flames. Three pieces of the engine fell to the ground, one 5-ft piece landed on a beach where people were having a cookout. No one was injured. The pilot dumped 83 tons of fuel over the ocean for over an hour and then made an emergency landing.  The flight had 449 people who were not able to get another flight to Amsterdam until the next day.  The costs reported do not include room and board.  Time out of service was 72 hours and cost of repairs was $400,000.

Posted 4-4-2001