What happens when a bird hits an airplane or its engine?

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In this new installment related to the Fear to fly, let's talk about what happens when a bird hits a plane or its engine? We will know your risks, affectations and how aviation adapts to face these contingencies.

Post written by: Captain Rudolph Star (with small contributions from Nicolás Larenas)
FAA Commercial Pilot
Twitter: @rodo_estrella

El Bird Strike

Whenever an aircraft is operating there is a possibility that its operation will be affected by unexpected external factors., one of these factors is the birds.

According to the Federal Aviation Agency of the United States, the risk of impact with birds under 3000 feet above the ground is a very serious issue given that under these conditions the most susceptible aircraft are those that are in the process of taking off and initial climb.

Although the pilots receive very little training and there are no government requirements on the handling of this particular situation, there are other contingency measures so that, in the event of damage, it is minimized and a reasonable survival rate is achieved..

Firstly, aeronautical designers not only take into account the impact of birds but also the damage caused by any foreign object (Foreign Object Damage: FOD for its acronym in English), be this any object that puts at risk the structural integrity or the operation of the aircraft.

Particularly in the case of bird strike, The most critical parts susceptible to damage are the engines and the windshield, obtaining a risk of 44 and 33% respectively according to a Boeing study. Other parts of the aircraft are also affected by bird strikes, but we will take into account these two being the ones that can become the most serious.

Given the circumstances, safety measures have been taken, for example, the windshields of commercial aircraft must be able to withstand direct impacts from birds and objects of up to almost 2kg without penetration at cruising speeds.. There have been cases in the past where bird debris and objects have penetrated causing damage to the crew or inadvertently activating systems.. On 2009 an S76 helicopter that was hit by a bird, its remains activated the fire extinguishing mechanisms of the engines causing its loss, that's why the integrity of the windshield is vital.

The engines

For purposes of this article, we will only talk about commercial aircraft powered by jet engines where certain physical and aerodynamic conditions that propeller aircraft suffer after the loss of an engine do not apply.

From cases like the United flight 232 in Sioux City where a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 suffered a catastrophic explosive engine failure causing additional damage to hydraulic lines actuating control mechanisms, Now the engines are certified not to withstand and function after a bird strike or any other object, but to withstand without being destroyed and maintain sufficient integrity to contain the damage and not affect other vital components of the aircraft.. Engine manufacturers during the certification of new engines perform tests that even exceed the requirements of the authorities.

The aircraft

During the certification process of a new aircraft, the manufacturer must be able to prove that the aircraft is capable not only of maintaining control at the time of an engine loss, but also of meeting certain parameters of ‘performance’ that will allow you to have a safe operation during the different phases of the flight where an engine loss can occur.

Although the crew will not be able to know if it is a bird strike, particularly, the instruments will opportunely show a failure for which there are specific procedures for which the pilots received exhaustive training for their handling.

Let us remember the events of the 15 of January of 2009 the flight 1549 of US Airways in the famous "Miracle on the Hudson" suffered the catastrophic loss of its two engines when it hit a flock of geese during its ascent, although the engines were internally destroyed during impact, as mentioned before, the damage suffered was contained within its own structure and other vital parts the flight control system was not affected and the crew was able to maintain control and make an emergency ditching in the river. Had there been a catastrophic loss of engines followed by the loss of other systems, the flight could have had a different and possibly very tragic outcome.

The Economic Impact

According to the United States Bird-strikes Commission, Only in that country the economic impact produced as a result of damage caused by bird strikes on aircraft produces $650 million dollars in losses per year, this without mentioning the associated risk to human life. That is why manufacturers and especially the authorities take into account the risk of aeronautical operations in the presence of birds or wildlife..

According to the EASA (European Aviation Safey Agency) at 2009 the costs that a bird strike brings to the industry exceeds one million euros per year.

bird protection

Now that we know that an aircraft is capable of surviving impacts from birds or any foreign object with certain safety, it is important to know how the industry protects air operations, especially from impacts against birds..

Many airports use low or high impact strategies to control birds in the environment. As low-impact strategies we can talk about using pyrotechnics that, when exploded, cause the birds in the sector to disperse, other sites use birds of prey that chase other birds away from the site, dogs or drones disguised as birds of prey are other alternatives.

Other sites have used methods of high environmental impact such as the elimination of vegetation and the sources of food for birds with pesticides, forcing them to seek other sites., as well as elimination of places where they usually live. These methods are obviously questionable due to their environmental impact.

Among the measures applied to protect the aeronautical operation from birds, the following stand out::

• Biological control of mosquitoes in wetlands or lagoons near airports.
• Falconry.
• Electronic sound and alarms.
• gas cannons.
• Pyrotechnics.
• Trap nets and cages.
• Controlled removal of nests and their replacement in other areas.
• Placement of anti-nest structures.
• felling of dry trees.
• mowing and herbicides.

Additionally, the Federal Aviation Agency recommends that aircraft be as visible as possible to birds using lights and beacons that attract their attention and keep them away..

Finally, Bird strikes are a latent risk that will always exist in aviation, However, Manufacturers and industry work every day to improve their aircraft and systems to mitigate the risk of an impact, making the flight safer and ensuring that undesirable encounters with birds are not the cause of a disaster..

Bird strike accidents

There are several cases of accidents and not to mention hundreds of incidents by birds throughout the history of aviation. This danger is so latent and important, well remembered is the case of the US Airways flight and the landing with a happy ending in the Hudson River.

most recent case, but still under investigation, it was the accident of Ural Airlines an Airbus A321 that managed to make an emergency landing in an agricultural field seconds after takeoff, ingestion of birds would have caused this situation.

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