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In a period of less than twenty-four hours, two U.S. commercial airline jets, one a US Airways A319 and the other a Continental Airlines Boeing 777, found themselves making emergency landings both shortly after take-off due to bird strike incidents. The culprit: those menacing Canadian geese.The US Airways A319 had their encounter with a flock of geese at approximately 2,000ft AGL Thursday morning on March 11th. The plane loaded with 124 persons (+5 crew) made a safe, single engine landing shortly thereafter at it’s departure airport, Greater Rochester International. Total time in the air: approximately twenty minutes.
The Continental Airlines 777 passengers had similar encounter but different experience the evening prior on Wednesday the 10th. Just after the take-off roll, the plane hit a number of Canadian geese as it was climbing through 300ft AGL. With this incident involving a jumbo-jet that was laden with fuel for its international trek to Hong-Kong, the passengers had to endure a ninety-minute circling flight above the New Jersey Turnpike as the plane dumped fuel. Unlike smaller aircraft, bigger jets often have a significant difference in their maximum take-off weight and their maximum-landing weight. After its fuel dump, the crippled 777 made a safe landing back at its departure airport in Newark, New Jersey.
These two incidents are vivid reminders of the famous “Miracle on the Hudson” event last year where another US Airways flight encountered a flock of geese at roughly 3,000ft AGL and lost both engines. This forced pilot-turned-hero Captain “Sully” Sullenberger to ditch his jet in the Hudson River just shortly after take-off. All souls on board survived.
With incidents like this seeming to be on the rise, one must ask, “Are bird strikes becoming more of a danger to aircraft or are they nowadays just more diligently reported?” According to a recent study by the Associated Press on new government data, reports of bird strike incidents are definitely on the rise, as it noted a surge just within last year alone. (Courtesy: Associated Press)
It’s wise to expect, as air traffic rules and regulations become ever-so-vigilant in these modern times, further incidents such as these will continue to make headline news. In addition, with the global effect of the Internet, it appears that the days of being so comfortably nestled in the ignorant dark of aviation news is now long behind us. It looks like bliss is gone. Welcome to reality world.
This story was written and compiled by resident Aviation News Editor, Ralston Dorn (username: RalPh8).
(Sources: NY Post, Charlotte Observer)
Above: A Continental Airlines Boeing 777, similar to the one involved in the bird strike on Wednesday March 10, 2010.
Damage to aircraft after a bird-strike.
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