Plane Crashes: FAA Releases Bird Strike Data

Phoenix, AZFollowing the media frenzy surrounding what could have been a tragic plane crash in New York in January, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made its bird strike database available to the public. According to the database, some airports have reported hundreds of such collisions a year—and although the number of incidents that result in airplane crashes is low, the higher the number of bird strikes the more likely it is that at some point a collision will result in tragedy.

The FAA's National Wildlife Strike Database, tracks reported collisions between wildlife (including, of course, birds) and airplanes. However, the FAA notes that strike reports are voluntarily reported by pilots, airlines, airports and other individuals or organizations, and therefore may only represent about 20 percent of all wildlife strikes. Furthermore, airports have their own reporting procedures, meaning that some airports report incidents based on different criteria than others.

According to USA Today, which included only reports of strikes made by airport staff and not from pilots or airlines, New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport experiences approximately 100 bird strikes a year. However, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reports an average of only 10 bird strikes a year.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reportedly requested that the FAA make reporting of bird strikes mandatory, however the FAA rejected that recommendation. The FAA had also initially resisted releasing bird strike data, citing concern that pilots and airlines would no longer voluntarily report bird strikes if that information was made public.

Although bird strikes are considered rare, they have the potential to become disasters. Luckily for the 155 people on US Airways Flight 1549, their flight was not a tragedy, but it could easily have been. The plane they were on struck a flock of Canada geese, damaging both of the aircraft's engines and resulting in the plane being ditched in New York's Hudson River. Everyone on board survived the incident.

Not everyone is so lucky. According to The New York Times, in October 2007, a student and instructor pilot died after their plane crashed. The plane had struck a Canada goose the night before, damaging the left engine. Although the engine was repaired the day of the crash, the plane still crashed, killing both people on board.

Furthermore, the NTSB says that a wildlife strike may have been what caused the crash of a Sikorsky helicopter in Louisiana just days before the ditching of Flight 1549. Eight of the 9 people onboard that helicopter died in the crash.

In fact, there have been a reported 5 deaths and 93 injuries since 2000 related to bird strikes, according to the Associated Press. Since 1990, there have been 11 such deaths in 98,328 reported incidents. Keep in mind that this data still represents only approximately 20 percent of all wildlife strikes, meaning that the actual number of bird strikes is likely much, much higher.

What may concern people is that the number of collisions between birds and planes appears to be on the rise, with some airports reporting that the number has doubled since 2000. Furthermore, also since 2000, 28 incidents involving wildlife were so severe that the aircraft was deemed "destroyed." Experts say that the issue of bird strikes will continue to grow because more and more birds are finding food to live year-round near cities and airports.

And, it is not just birds that can be involved in wildlife strikes. Airports also report collisions involving white-tailed deer on the runway—at least 288 incidents since 1990. Collisions with deer can cause serious damage to planes, sometimes more serious than bird collisions. Other reports involved caribou, moose and a fish dropped by an osprey that got caught up in an aircraft's landing gear.

The good news is that most bird strikes do not result in tragedy. The bad news is that, based on Flight 1549, there is still the potential for disaster when a bird and a plane collide.