Birds, Airplanes a Dangerous Mix
by Jessica Chapula, Talon Marks, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA
May 7, 2008
If you thought people were already scared of flying, there
is another reason to worry about it: bird strikes.
Teacher TRAC and the Science, Engineering and Math Division of Cerritos
College sponsored a lecture called "Bird's Eye View: Building a Better
Scarecrow" last Thursday.
The lecture was conducted by Assistant Professor of Department of Biological
Sciences in Cal State Long Beach, Dr. Esteban Fernandez-Juricic.
A bird strike is when a bird crashes into an airplane or an airplane hits a
bird.
According to Juricic, bird strikes are a major problem.
Not only are birds getting hurt, "it can also be extremely severe,
possibility of an accident and it also costs the airline industry over $1.28
billion annually for repairements," Juricic said
He is trying to protect the birds and is doing research on how birds will be
less attractive to an airplane.
Between 1990-2006, 73,526 bird strikes have been reported and about 200
people since 1990 have died.
"We are doing experiments to see how birds respond to approaching objects to
predict bird responses to airlines, identify key components to develop new
applications (to make the airplane less attractive) and predict how
different types of bird species perceive light and color," he said.
Juricic's research is to, "find a new way to protect the birds' species and
at the same time keep passengers safe."
In the lecture he showed students some bird strikes videos, which can be
found on youtube.com.
Claudia Rosales, liberal arts major, enjoyed the lecture.
"I thought it was interesting. I think is nice that they are doing something
to protect the birds," she said. "I had no idea bird strikes were a problem
and I never even thought that aircrafts could crash into birds."
There are a few ways you can help reduce the possibility of a bird strike"
1. continue flying, "Don't be scared pilots are highly trained to be
in these situations," Juricic said.
2. Ask the airlines what they do to prevent bird strikes.
3. Contact your political representatives to let them know you are
aware of the problem and ask them how the government is responding,
4. and last, spread the word!
Air Zimbabwe Plane Suffers Bird Strike, Burst
Into Flames
Afriquenligne
May 5, 2008
Blantyre, Malawi - A London-bound Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767, carrying over 90
passengers, burst into flames at Malawi's Lilongwe International Airport
Thursday when it aborted a take-off after the engine sucked in two birds,
civil aviation and airline officials have confirmed.
"Yes we had an incident this morning involving an Air Zimbabwe plane," Chief
Aviation Officer Alfred Mtilatila told PANA. "But I don't have much details
since we are still investigating."
Airport Commandant Paul Chikakula also confirmed the incident but also had
scanty details.
Air Zimbabwe Europe and America regional Manager, David Mwenga, told PANA
the pilot had to abandon take-off after it struck two birds.
"It had not reached what we call in aviation 'decision time' when it struck
the two birds so the pilot had to abandon take-off," he said.
The Boeing had 96 passengers when it left Harare International Airport
Thursday morning, 85 of whom were London-bound.
Mwenga said it had 91 passengers bound for London-Gatwick when the incident
occurred.
"No one was hurt, they are just in shock," he said of the passengers aboard
the plane.
But eye-witnesses talked of "a near major disaster".
An Air Malawi official, who could not be quoted by name because he is not
authorised to speak to the media, said he was in an Air Malawi flight which
was just landing when the incident happened.
"The Air Zim flight was taxing when it struck birds that entered the
turbines. They had to apply emergency brakes for the (aborted) take-off; the
impact of the emergency brakes sparked a fire," he said.
A major disaster was averted because, according to the eye-witness,
fire-fighting engines were immediately scrambled to the Boeing and managed
to put of the flames before it spread.
"But all (the) rear eight tyres had burst," he said.
The passengers were immediately evacuated.
The plane is currently grounded at Lilongwe International Airport, but
Mwenga said he was in talks with Kenyan Airways to re-route some passengers
through Heathrow.
"We will take some back to Harare to board another plane," he said.
Strange Theories on the Brisbane F-111
Pelican Crash
by Lyndal Cairns and Melanie Christiansen - The Sunday Mail, Australia
April 20, 2008
AIRLINE passengers should not be unduly alarmed about mid-air bird strikes,
despite the devastating impact of a pelican on a defence force F-111,
experts say.
Classified photos published in The Courier-Mail's Weekend Edition showed the
jet, with its "shredded" fibreglass nose, after an emergency landing at the
Amberley RAAF Base.
The F-111 was flying at 900m on a test bombing raid over Evans Head, in
northern NSW, when the pelican struck the fibreglass nose, smashing the
radome, before the bird was sucked into an engine.
Repairs to the fighter are expected to cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
However despite the extensive damage and an admission from a Defence
spokesman that the RAAF has suffered "a few" such serious incidents in its
history Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson yesterday
played down the risks for commercial airlines.
Mr Gibson said a single bird strike would not cause as much damage for a
commercial plane as it did in the case of the F-111 bomber struck over
northern NSW.
"I've never heard of anything as dramatic as that, so there may be unique
features about that aircraft that caused that or, I don't know, maybe it was
a really fat pelican," he said.
In the case of a commercial jet, Mr Gibson said the most common problem was
a bird being sucked into an engine and damaging the blades or a windscreen
cracking.
That would not jeopardise the aircraft's ability to land safely, although it
could be costly to airlines, he said.
Figures from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau show there were 610 bird
strikes around Australia's 10 major airports last year with Cairns the most
dangerous airport for bird strikes.
It recorded 105 incidents within a 5km radius, compared to 100 bird strikes
around Sydney airport and 80 around the Brisbane airport, which is next to
the Boondall wetlands, an important feeding ground which attracts migratory
birds.
To reduce the risk of bird strikes, Brisbane Airport Corporation funded a
Queensland University of Technology study into what grasses and what length
of grass are least likely to attract birds.
The airport also chooses trees to plant which do not produce the type of
flowers and seeds sought by birds.
Avionics instructor Max Walker told the Australian Air Force Cadets bulletin
board that several F-111 nose pieces were scrapped each year in the air
force.
Having worked on F-111s for 17 years, it wasn't the first and will certainly
not be the last, he wrote.
When you fly close to the ground, stuff happens!
He said he was impressed by the pilots flying skills without the metal probe
on the front of the plane.
Good flying skills by the two aircrew avoided what could have lead to an
ejection, and possible early retirement of a F-111 before its time! Well
done all round I say!
Our own readers had some interesting theories as to what happened.
I think the bird strike story is baloney, Sean wrote from the Gold Coast.
More like a cover up to admit the 34-year-old air force planes are well past
their use-by dates. This looks a lot more like a structural failure in the
fibreglass.
Monty of Brisbane wrote: What motivation would the RAAF have to advertise
the incident as a bird strike if it was actually structural failure?
Suggestions of a cover up are ridiculous.
Robocop suggested the pilots new codename should be The Pelican after safely
guiding the plane home.
Bill Grieve of Enoggera said: Reading some of these comments one would
think, a 70kg Pelican built like a tank flying at near 3000 feet committed
suicide on behalf of Al Qaeda.''
Los Angeles air force veteran VarkVet said on F-16.net that an F-111 went
down in similar circumstances in Scotland in 1984.
The aircraft went down after striking a large bird (probably a seagull)
during a low-level run,
The bird shattered the radome (nose piece) which shed pieces into both
intakes. The crew ejected and survived.
Iseneca said on our website that training flights should happen in
unpopulated areas to reduce the risk of a plane ditching over houses.
Another writer, Very Concerned, asked how the planes sensors did not see the
pelican in time to take evasive action.
Perhaps this event demonstrates that instrument navigation systems are not
all they are cracked up to be. What if the Pelican had in fact been a
balloon, hang-glider or microlight (glider)?
On forum militaryphotos.net, Eztyga said: Barry Hall couldn't have done
better.
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! Now It's Just a
Plane
by Clara Moskowitz, Discover Magazine
April 18, 2008
Despite efforts to avoid them, birds still do billions of dollars of damage
to aircraft.
By the summer of 2009, when Boeing expects its first new 787 Dreamliner to
be delivered to Japan, engineers will be banking on a number of engine
safety tests to assure a future filled with uneventful flights. One safety
bar that the Dreamliners jet engine, the General Electric GEnx, had to pass
was the Federal Aviation Administrations bird strike test. To perform the
test, technicians at GEs testing facility in Peebles, Ohio, suspended the
engine from a giant stand, its turbines spinning at full force. Then they
loaded four thawed goose carcasses into a 50-foot-long steel tube and fired.
Together, the birds shot at 205 miles an hour toward the blades of the
engine, which tore them to pieces. Not one of the front fan blades broke.
The GEnx engine passed the test.
Even in an era of advanced computer modeling, the decade-old test is deemed
essential for producing aircraft engines that can withstand the impact (pdf)
of collisions with birds, which cause more than a billion dollars worth of
damage worldwide to civil aircraft every year, according to the Bird Strike
Committee USA. FAA tests so far have used real bird carcasses, but some
manufacturers and researchers are developing synthetic bird carcassesless
messy and more standardized. Another strategic effort is the U.S. Air Forces
Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard prevention program, or BASH, which collects data
to help map routes that prevent planes from sharing airspace with large
flocks of birds.
Airport Eagles Will Be All Right, Report
States
Orlando Sentinel
April 27, 2008
The birds are all right.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a draft after-the-fact
"biological opinion" about last year's destruction of three eagles' nests at
and around the Orlando Sanford International Airport.
The destruction of their nests "did not result in jeopardy to the species,"
the document said in its conclusion.
But that's hardly the end of the eagle issue. The document also noted adult
eagles from the nests will likely keep hanging around in the area.
Three nests surfaced this nesting season, very close to where the old ones
were destroyed. Eagle experts assume the new nests were created by the old
pairs that were forced out.
Eagles have died colliding with airplanes at the airport. Officials there
are worried about the possibility of a serious accident.
