Bird Strike - anecdotes/ experiences?

[arrow2]

Just thought I would share what happened to me last Monday with you and seek views as to whether I was lucky, did the correct thing and see what similar experiences other Ppruners may have.

I have a T tail Arrow 4 and was flying along over Quiberon bay, Southern Brittany en route Isle D'Yeu - Quiberon at about 2500' alt. All well with the world, sun shining, great vis. autopilot doing its job, on way to one of my favourite airfields.

Remarked to my passenger a seagull passing by about 200' below and thought to myself it was quite high. Then about 20 seconds later I see another right in front of me (maybe slightly higher) obviously wheeling and turning in an attempt to avoid me. 2 seconds after I saw it, with no time to avoid, it hit the brow of the windscreen on passenger's side where the perspex meets the metal with a huge bang!

One of those brown trouser moments! It had not appeared to have hit the prop and I can only assume it was descending when it hit and had thereby avoided the prop arc. My main concern was the tail - where had the bird gone after it hit the windscreen?

My passenger and I, another PPL, agreed to turn straight towards land which was only about 1 mile away and follow the bay around to Quiberon. I did a gentle control check, 1st of ailerons which I expected to be fine and then of tail controls VERY GENTLY. All seemed fine, circuit, approach and landing normal.

Inspected aircraft, slight dent above windscreen, assorted feather, blood and guts remaining - yuk!

Was I lucky? Does it get worse than that? Other experiences for the education of us Ppruners?

Arrow 2

[doubleu-anker]

Yes, you were lucky.

I have seen an A/C after a bird strike, years ago, when it flew into a large bird, somewhat nearer to the equator than Europe. The point of impact was about a foot from the left hand wing root, and the leading edge was knocked back to the mainspar which cracked, 3/4 of the way through from the top, towards the bottom.

As you are probably well aware, a bird will take evasive action by folding it's wings and dropping like a stone. Sometimes they get it wrong. If you have the time and see it coming try and pull up, all things considered.

[Cat.S]

Hit a house martin just after take-off in a 'Terrohawk' from Shobdon couple of years ago. It narrowly avoided the prop and swerved downwards, hit the undercarriage and then was swept up by the prop wash into the tail. Climbed to 4000' tried some slow flight and when everything seemed okay headed on back to LPL as the runway was a lot longer there.

Told ATC about the strike on re-entering the zone and they gave me priority in the circuit and had the nice men with the red truck standing by at the side of the runway. My passenger thought ATC's question as to 'How many souls on board?' highly amusing.
Turned out that the undercarriage was totally undamaged, but there was a dent the size of my fist in one of the elevators.

One of the other PA38's here hit a crow on take-off from Welshpool an ended up with a dent nearly the size of a football in the leading edge some months earlier. Now that was scary!

[Scuzi]

Back in January I was doing a few circuits on rwy 25 at Aldergrove. On my third take off I rotated as normal and just as the wheels left the ground.... *THUMP*. What looked like a crow or raven hit the middle of the windscreen. How it missed the prop I don't know, very lucky I suppose. The windscreen was covered in bird guts and my passenger started getting a bit hysterical so I informed the tower and continued the circuit to land. I considered landing back but the controls and handling appeared OK and there was an EZY 737 at about 4 miles therefore I continued.

It did take me by surprise but I surprised myself at how calm I was.

Just as a matter of interest, if such a bird hit the prop of a PA28 just after becoming airborne, what would the likely outcome be? I dread to think what might have happened.

[strake]

Saw a Starling pitot-spiked on a Robin (plane, not bird you understand....) at Sywell a good few years back.

Thank you in advance... but we did all the jokes about cooking it with the heater at the time......

[Evo]

I remember a story told by an Army Gazelle pilot - one of his collegues was flying along when, Bang!, the Gazelle hit a buzzard, which went between the two crew members and disappeared into the back of the cabin in a cloud of feathers. After a couple of minutes the buzzard woke up and attacked the pilot, who had to keep flying while the bloke in the left hand seat tried to throw the buzzard back out of the helicopter... :ouch:

[Heliport]

Copied from the 'Rotorheads Around the World' collection.

http://www.bell47helicopterassociation.org/bird%20strike%202.jpg

[stillin1]

Not a fun event in a light GA aircraft!
If the bird does significant damange to the prop you will know pretty damn quick - two choices ~ turn it off and force land or use it as gently as possible to get you to a position to select idle and carry out a precautionary force landing pattern (turn it off if / when dead confident you don't need it any more. Leaving a badly damaged prop running may cause severe engine damage that could lead to all sorts of nasties.
If you suspect damage to your airframe you are probably best diverting to a decent size airfield / field and gently putting it down using as small and gentle control inputs as you can, as little flap as needed to land safely and a emergency call to get assistance if it all goes to rat-s#it.
If at a decent height and equipped with parachutes you could carry out a low speed handling check. Stay at height - divert as above and then configure for the landing at height ,slow to approach speed + about 10 kts and if all is well ~ execute a spiral decent to the runway being as gentle as possible once again. There are variations on this theme but the basics are the same
Be gentle, see if it flies, get help standing by and get down putting as little stress on the aircraft as you can.:\

[Sir George Cayley]

Hope all you strikers filled in and sent the necessary paperwork!

Sir George Cayley

ps Never hit anything but gave some a fright

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Some years ago a Boeing 727 on the approach hit a buzzard. The bird came through the radome, the weather radar, the front pressure bulkhead, removed the P2's left rudder pedal, broke his foot, and embedded itself in the cockpit rear wall. You certainly don't want one through the windscreen:( .

A couple of years ago I was taking off at Barton in the Chippy. It was winter, the field was wet, and there was a flock of gulls on the runway. As each aircraft took off, the gulls dissapered to each side, then settled back after its passage. I commenced my take off roll (rwy 27L), the gulls took off, all to the sides except one, who set off on a heading of 270. Well, he wasn't quicker than old Sierra Lima, and he came though the prop arc and narrowly missed the windscreen. I didn't think I'd hit him, but Tower reported a birdstrike to me with a dead bird on the runway. I landed back, and found evidence of sliced gull on the prop, but no damage.

The groundsman went out to collect it; a sliced-in-two juvenile Balck Headed Gull.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed an increase in the number of soaring birds in the last couple of years? I've had several close encounters with buzzards, gulls, and crows at several thousand feet as they circle up in thermals, especially over Shropshire, where I fly quite a lot. Didn't happen to the same extent a few years back, I'm sure

SSD

[Warped Factor]

Have come uncomfortably close a few times but don't think I've ever hit one. May have had one take a glancing blow off the Chipmunks' wingtip climbing out of Waltham once, not 100% sure though.

This seagull came to a sticky end on the pitot tube of a Cessna at Shoreham a while ago.

http://www.southernflyers.org.uk/images/Bird_strike_2.jpg

WF.

[ShyTorque]

Was flying back on a casevac late one night through Victoria Harbour, HK, in an S-76.

I got a sudden impression of all the lights of the Island going out, followed by the sight of something black just in front of my windscreen. There was an immediate huge BANG just above my head.

We had hit a very large bird, migrating by moonlight. Fortunately there was no damage and we continued to base, about three minutes flying away. There was a lot of blood, guts and feathers up on the cockpit roof but none of it went down the engines or into the flying controls.

About 20 years ago I lost a good friend, Steve Belcher, copilot on a Nimrod. They lost 3 out of 4 engines on departure from a Scottish RAF base, fully laden. After the accident about 70 dead seagulls were found on the airfield. The aircraft went down in trees off the end of the runway. Both pilots were killed but all the rear crew escaped. :(

[AerBabe]

Came close to a bird strike as a passenger. I noticed a black speck in front, had time to wonder whether it was a bird and open my mouth to warn the pilot... and then it shot past the top of the aeroplane. Gave us all a fright. Wasn't there a thread on this some time last year, when it was agreed that the best action was to push the stick forward?

[cblinton@blueyonder.]

A good friend of mine was on short final with a student and hit a pheasant, he asked his student to nip back and pick it up.

Several days later he and his girlfriend invited me round for dinner.

Guess what was on the menu:{

[doubleu-anker]

Shaggy Sheep Driver

Yes I remember the 727 incident well. Happened on final approach to RWY 36 at Khartoum, Sudan. There is a rubbish tip (could be argued the whole city is a rubbish tip) on about a 3-4 mile approach, so attracts the birds and big birds at that. Unfortunately, the F/O died a week later.

[arrow2]

Thanks for all your replies / anecdotes to date - there are some terrifying ones there! I guess I was lucky!

A2

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Unfortunately, the F/O died a week later.

Sorry to hear that; I didn't know. I thought he only suffered that broken foot, and I'd no idea it was far more serious.

SSD

[trevelyan]

Heard of a Ryanair 737 on the approach into Dublin, Captain calls the tower and advises them that they have just ingested a large seagull into one of their engines, tower acknowledges and asks which one....
Captain comes back on the r/t and says, dunno, seen one seagull, seen them all.....


:)

[boomerangben]

Had a couple myself, but no damage.

Heard from a reliable source about an incident at one of the Scottish Island airports. Apparently shortly after leaving the tarmac, a small passenger aeroplane struck a fish. No, it wasn't an ATP (which apparently only gets airbourne by virtue of the earth's curvature) A seagull had picked up a dead fish and was making its own departure when it was buzzed. It panicked and dropped the fish.....