bird strike

[Canuckbirdstrike]

An interesting discussion. The three issues to address are damage assessment, decision making and reporting.

The first issue, damage assessment, is the most difficult to address. Unlike mechanical faults that are in many cases addressed by on-board fault warning systems and clearly defined SOP's, bird strike damage assessment can be very subjective. Even if a bird is definitely known to have been ingested into an engine, in-flight determination of damage is difficult. Engine instruments are not necessarily a reliable diagnostic tool. There are many cases of bird ingestion that results in engine damage that does not show up on indication systems or is "latent" and does not become apparent until later in the flight or on subsequent flights. The only effective method to assess engine damage is inspection on the ground by qualified maintenance personnel and with a boroscope, if there is any suspicion that the bird(s) have passed through the compressor/turbine. Damage to other aircraft parts can also be tough to assess. Windscreen and airframe damage may not appear to have caused damage, but actually has. Control surfaces on Fly By Wire Aircraft may be damaged and be fluttering, but this may not be detected by the crew. In a nutshell, post bird strike damage assessment is difficult and a conservative approach must be taken. One thing to do is to try and get information from the departure airport if the strike occurred on takeoff. In most cases they can find the remains and give you an idea what you hit and how many. If you hit something big, or lots of small ones, then continuing may not be a good idea.

Now to decision making after a bird strike; what should I do? Again, to many variables to define a simple SOP. Where is the damage? What is my flight route (ETOPS)? What are the weather considerations? If I return for landing am I over max landing weight? What repair facilities are at my destination or diversion airport? Once again, no simple answer.

Reporting is straightforward. The first thing to do is report the strike to the local ATC facility. At an airport they pass this information to Wildlife Control who can check for remains to help with the damage assessment and check for other birds and remove them. For the longer term analysis most countries either have their own bird strike report forms or use the ICAO bird strike report form. Most of the forms can be downloaded on line. Please take the time to fill these out as completely as possible. Many people think that nothing can be done to deal with bird strikes, which is completely incorrect. Detailed information on strikes helps to determine many details that can be used to manipulate local habitat and modify Wildlife Control Program procedures and operating times to reduce the likelihood of re-occurrence.

Sorry there are no simple answers to what on the surface appears to be a simple question.

There is lots of information available on the Transport Canada website, the International Bird Strike Committee website and many other local state bird strike committee websites.