Originally Posted by
megan
With little critters like these it's engines you need worry about. October 4, 1960: Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 crashed on takeoff from Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board. The crash was eventually determined to be the result of bird (starlings) ingestion into three of the four engines. The bird damage caused the No. 1 propeller to autofeather and the engine to shut down at the same time that damage to the No. 2 and No. 4 engines prevented those engines from developing full power at a critical stage of flight. The aircraft was unable to climb and the power interruption to the port engines probably caused the left wing to stall; the wing dropped and the aircraft crashed into the water. There was also evidence that birds had crashed into the windscreen, reducing the pilots' visibility; in addition, bird remains had clogged the pitot tubes, making the pilots' airspeed indicators unreliable.
Wings don't stall because engines fail. Power failure and loss of airspeed indicators would be hard to handle. Pure seat of the pants flying time. :-(