Bird Strike

A bird strike is any collision between an aircraft and one or more birds. Bird strikes can occur during any phase of flight but are most common during takeoff, initial climb, approach, and landing — below 3,000 feet AGL where bird density is highest.

The consequences of a bird strike range from negligible (a small bird hitting the fuselage) to catastrophic (large birds ingested into engines). The most famous example is US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, where a flock of Canada geese caused dual engine failure shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia, leading to the successful ditching in the Hudson River.

Airports employ various bird management strategies including habitat modification, pyrotechnics, trained falcons, radar-based bird detection systems, and grass management to reduce the attractiveness of airport environments to birds. Pilots are required to report bird strikes to help build statistical databases used in risk management.