02 July 2009

American Airlines Flight 1256 was on approach to LaGuardia just before 1100 Tuesday when it hit a large bird, the second such high-profile incident reported in the New York area this year. The airplane was able to land safely, but while taxiing, the pilot noticed the nose gear hydraulics were not operating correctly.

The Boeing 737-800 was towed to the gate, and all of the passengers safely deplaned. It was then that a large bird was found lodged in the nose gear.

Multiple media sources including New York Television Stations CBS 2 and NBC New York report city officials are looking at ways to minimize the risk of bird strikes in the metropolitan region. One plan under consideration is to round up and euthanize thousands of Canada geese that migrate through the New York area each summer, a plan that has drawn protests from animal rights activists

In January, a USAirways Airbus suffered a dual flameout after ingesting several birds on departure, famously ditching in the Hudson River with all passengers and crew surviving. That incident has been the impetus for several high-level discussions about how to mitigate bird strikes particularly around busy airports. The CBS station reports there were 98 reported bird strikes at LaGuardia in 2008.