April 24, 2009

FAA

The FAA released information on the location of bird strikes for the first time Friday, after public pressure mounted following the dramatic splashdown of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River Jan. 15. A bird strike knocked out both the aircraft’s engines.

The Associated Press reports:

Topping the list of airports where planes were either substantially damaged or destroyed by birds since 2000 were John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with at least 30 such accidents and Sacramento International Airport in California with at least 28 accidents. Kennedy, the nation’s 6th busiest airport, is located amid wetlands that attract birds, and Sacramento International, the nation’s 40th busiest, abuts farms whose crops draw birds.

(To explore the FAA data on your own, click here.)

Since Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger guided the Airbus A320 onto the Hudson River early this year after taking off from LaGuardia — not JFK — the public has become more acutely aware of the threats Canada Geese can pose to aircraft. (The aircraft sucked several of the fowl into its two engines, knocking both out of commission.)

But according to the data released Friday, white-tailed deer struck on runways have caused more incidents of serious damage to planes since 1990 — at least 288 accidents — than any individual species of bird. And even in the bird world, Canada Geese come second after gulls for serious damage in cases where a species identification could be made. Since 1990, 11 people have died in airplane collisions with birds or deer since 1990, the FAA data show.