Bird Strikes! This is Why Birds are SO Angry These images may be disturbing to some viewers, especially our fine feathered friends! The first set of shots is the result of an Embraer 145 picking up an unexpected passenger; a pelican. According to the NTSB... "On August 10, 2010, about 1340 mountain daylight time, an EmbraerEMB-145XR, N14105, collided with a large bird while on a downwind for a visual approach to Salt Lake City International Airport, Salt LakeCity, Utah. The two flight crew members, the two cabin crew members,and the 46 passengers were not injured, but the airplane, which was owned and operated by Express Jet, sustained substantial damage. According to the operator, while the airplane was on a downwind for a visual approach,it flew through a flock of large birds. One of the birds impacted the airplane near its nose, resulting in a section of skin about three feet long being folded back. The airplane was then landed successfully at Salt Lake International Airport. An individual who made an initial examination of the bird remains stated that he believed that the bird was a White Pelican."
A Bombardier CRJ200ER collided with a flock of birds, resulting an emergency landing at Little Rock Airport. The flight was inbound when the pilot reported the bird strike while preparing for final. The nose cone and engine cowl sustained damage.
The following pictures appear to be the horizontal stab on a Beech KingAir, although the bird is a bit more difficult to identify. Based on the orange markings on the aircraft in the background, this could be a T44 from the Kingsville Naval Air Station.
The following is an abbreviated NTSB Report: Beech C-99 On November 4, 2009, a Beech C-99, encountered a bird strike while on approach to Show Low, Arizona. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries; the airplane sustained damage to the left front pilot windshield. The pilot reported that shortly after beginning the descent at an altitude of 11,000 feet mean sea level (msl), approximately 20 miles west of Show Low, a bird impacted the upper part of the captain’s windshield, breaking a football size hole in it. A considerable amount of blood, tissue matter, and windshield fragments came into the cockpit. The captain suffered facial lacerations, bruising, and some lacerations on his chest. The pilot continued his approach to SOW in spite of the fact the windscreen was nearly opaque. The pilot made radio calls in the blind using the standby hand microphone. He was unable to hear any transmissions due to the wind noise in the cockpit.
An abbreviated NTSB report: Bombardier Challenger 640 Shortly after departure from Colorado Springs, a Bombardier Challenger 640 encountered multiple large birds at an altitude between 2000 to 4000 feet AGL resulting in multiple impacts. One bird penetrated the fuselage nose area just below the windshield and continued through the forward cockpit bulkhead, displacing a display unit. Bird remains were sprayed throughout the cockpit. There was evidence that both engines ingested at least one bird with the crew reporting a power loss on the #2 engine. The crew conducted an air turn back and landed at the Colorado Springs airport without further incident. No injuries were reported. The Challenger 640 is not equipped with a bird strike barrier on the forward bulkhead.
A Baptist Health Med-Flight A-350 Helicopter departed Memphis en route to Little Rock without a patient, striking a flock of birds around the Forrest City area and made an emergency landing. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
A United Airlines / Boeing 737 landed safely after being struck by a bird while inbound from Dallas to Denver International Airport. The strike occurred about 25 miles outside Denver according to an airport spokeswoman. The plane landed without incident. No injuries were reported.
Man, some of these strikes are just unbelievable. Bird-proof windows should be a major research priority...
A Canadian Goose Strikes through the windshield of this Cessna 210 Centurion on climbout from Downers Grover, IL. This happened at the end of 2013.
To be honest, I do not think...radar will exclusively help you avoid hitting a bird. Sometimes it is a case of the bird hitting you rather than you hitting them.