ATSB research indicates that in Australia, 40% more wirestrikes occure than reported
 

This was sourced from another thread on Pprune.


"A new research investigation has found that more than 40 per cent of aviation
wirestrikes that occur in Australia were not reported to the ATSB.
This investigation commenced following anecdotal information from stakeholders who were aware of more wirestrikes than had been reported.

Wirestrikes pose an on-going danger to Australian aviators. They can happen
to any low-flying aircraft involved in any operation, such as aerial agricultural,
other aerial work, recreational or scenic flights. Intrigued by the possibility that
this lack of reporting was common, the ATSB reached out to electricity
distribution companies, asking for information. And the electricity
companies delivered.

Before this investigation, 166 wirestrikes were reported to the ATSB between July 2003 and June 2011. The new data from the electricity companies, however, revealed another 101 occurrences that had not been reported to the ATSB.
At least 40 percent of the wirestrikes in Australia had never been formally tallied.
‘
And it’s possible that the incidence of wirestrikes may actually be even
higher,’ said Dr Godley, the ATSB’s Manager of Research Investigations
and Data Analysis. ‘There are several reasons for us to believe that. Firstly,
a major telecommunications company did not have a single repository of this
information to be able to provide the ATSB with information of wirestrikes on
its network. In addition, not all wirestrikes result in a broken wire or interrupted power supply, and so are not recorded by electricity distribution companies. And then there’s the fact that disused
overhead wires are not tracked, so when they are damaged by an aircraft,
electricity companies aren’t notified. Finally, there are many private power
lines out there, and we don’t have any figures for them.’’

‘We’re urging pilots, and all aviation stakeholders, to report any wirestrike to
the ATSB even if there’s no damage to the aircraft and/or no injuries. There may not even be any damage to the wires.
But the more we know, the better we can do our job, which is to make flying in
Australia safer.’
The report Underreporting of Aviation Wirestrikes is available on the ATSB
website at Australian Transport Safety Bureau Homepage
Notifications of safety related events can be made via the toll free number
1800 011 034 (available 24/7) or via the ATSB website."

Could such under reporting occure worldwide?

Mickjoebill

Under reporting Incidents
 

I'd hazard a guess that Loss of Tail Rotor Effectiveness, Inadvertent Unplanned IMC flight and Night Disorientation Incidents are also grossly under reported - until they become accidents that is.

Speds

You might be surprised at how many of those wire strikes happen to fixed wing airplanes...