Why the Sudden Rise in Flying Accidents?

July 29, 2009

It seems that every few weeks there is news about another collision between birds and planes. So what’s happening in the skies? Are birds organizing and forming terrorist flocks with the purpose of attacking a plane? Certainly “bird strike” is an evocative term.

Can Planes and Birds Coexist?

So why all the air strikes? The reason the accidents are occurring more frequently isn’t because of the boom in bird populations as some suggest, the problem is that there are more planes than ever before. More trips by air means more potential problems with sharing the sky with our feathered friends.

According to some reports, increasing bird populations are to blame for the collisions. Newspapers and blogs have been reporting in bird strike stories that since1967 and the creation of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), bird species are increasing. Yet, it’s very difficult to find any evidence to substantiate this claim.

Birds Declining, Planes Increasing

The Audubon Society suggests the very opposite, reporting that populations of commonly seen birds has decreased by 68% with some individual species declining over 80% since 1967.

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI), a Canadian, American and Mexican initiative, also reports that bird species are in decline. In Canada it is estimated that there are more than 600 species of birds, and of these, 42 are listed as endangered or threatened. Along with the Audubon Society’s report, bird groups across North America are showing serious and long-term declines.

Of course, everyone wants to fly in safety (birds must feel the same way). So what are the odds? The news is both good and bad. Plane and bird collisions are not rare; according to Transport Canada’s most recent report from 2008, there were 1,230 reported bird strikes to Canadian planes. The good news? Only 3 resulted in a forced landing and 4 resulted in engine shutdown. No crashes were reported.

If you look at these rates and compare them to the bird stats reported by NABCI and Audubon, odds are you’ll be perfectly safe flying in an airplane.