Bird strikes are common, but few cause severe crashes

New York: Commercial and private pilots report thousands of incidents a year where birds hit their aircraft, but the vast majority of the potentially dangerous encounters do not result in substantial damage or serious crashes.

Birds are now being investigated as the possible cause of a US Airways crash minutes after takeoff Thursday from New York's LaGuardia Airport. Authorities said the pilot of the Airbus A320 reported that his plane was hit twice by birds during departure, forcing the crew to ditch into the Hudson River as both engines lost power.

"Bird strikes are not uncommon, and they cost the airline industry millions of dollars a year," said Jon Russell, a commercial pilot and western region safety coordinator for the Air Line Pilots Association.

"But a dual engine flame-out is very unusual. I've never heard of that before."

Between 1990 and 2007, civilian pilots reported 79,972 bird strikes to the Federal Aviation Administration. About 85 per cent came from commercial airlines, while the rest involved business, private or government aircraft. 43 planes and helicopters were destroyed or damaged. Eight strikes resulted in 11 deaths.

In the last three decades, the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation accidents, looked into 130 such mishaps. Many were survived by hundreds of shell-shocked passengers, some of whom recounted engine fires and hearing a loud bang like a firecracker as their jetliner ascended into the sky. The collisions often occur at low altitude during takeoffs, landings and climbs.

In one of the worst military accidents involving a bird strike, 24 US Air Force personnel were killed on September 22, 1995, shortly after their Boeing E-3B surveillance plane took off from Anchorage, Alaska. Canadian geese flew into two engines with catastrophic results.

The area where Thursday's crash occurred is known for its flocks of Canadian geese. There have been eight major incidents in which flocks have struck planes departing or landing at New York airports since 1995.