How Are Pilots Trained To Handle Bird Strikes?
Dealing with unavoidable wildlife encounters.
Planes aren’t the only birds in the sky. Unfortunately, bird strikes are surprisingly common in general and commercial aviation. How pilots respond to bird strikes depends on where the bird impacted the plane, how much damage was caused, and what the airline dictates their pilots should do. Let’s talk about what pilots do after bird strikes.
Emergency?
Impacting a bird can occasionally cause a severe issue, but in most bird strike events, no emergency is declared. Generally, strikes that cause performance degradation or handling differences are considered emergencies. Examples include an engine failure, a radome structural failure, or hydraulic line failures (on the gear while extended or in transit). Pilots perform the associated non-normal or emergency checklist for each of these events. Many airlines don’t have “bird strike checklists” because a bird strike isn’t the central dilemma—the ensuing system failure is.
Pilots must decide whether to keep flying or land after a suspected bird strike. In many cases, pilots aren’t sure whether they have hit a bird. They might see a bird (or birds) fly near the aircraft, but it’s sometimes impossible to tell if the birds collide with any part of the plane. Pilots closely monitor the hydraulics, electrics, pneumatics, and flight controls if a bird strike is suspected for an abnormal indication that would confirm a strike. Bird strikes might even go unnoticed by a crew until after landing. Pilots sometimes only discover a bird strike event after finding feathers or other evidence during a post-flight walk-around inspection.
After the strike
Every airline has reporting criteria for pilots after a bird strike. Every US airline pilot is required to fill out FAA Form 5200-7 after a bird strike. This report is added to the Wildlife Strike Database, an up-to-date tracking platform used to determine the frequency and location of bird strikes in US airspace. The database shows that in 2021 there were 15,400 bird strikes in the US. An additional 4,600 more were reported by US pilots at foreign airports.
In the interest of safety and wildlife conservation, multiple measures are in place to prevent bird strikes. Likewise, new technology is constantly being researched and implemented. Around the world, airports deploy crews to disperse birds using sounds such as sirens and cacophonous devices. Migratory detection and prevention research is ongoing at airports with the highest number of bird strikes. Engineers and manufacturers are also testing aircraft lighting schemes which would result in bird avoidance.
Airlines, scientists, and regulators alike are highly invested in reducing the number of bird strikes. Pilots are trained to handle a resulting failure should a bird strike cause a malfunction. Ultimately, hitting birds is unavoidable. Hopefully, developments in bird dispersal technologies and detection will result in fewer bird strike events in the very near future.
BYJACK HERSTAM in Simple Flying
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