Over a week ago, Virgin Australia flight VA 148 from Queenstown, New Zealand, headed for Melbourne experienced an emergency soon after takeoff. Loud bangs and flames emerged from the airplane’s right engine, causing the pilot to rely on the remaining engine. The plane, carrying 73 passengers and crew members, managed a safe emergency landing at the nearby Invercargill airport. According to Virgin Australia, the event was most likely caused by a bird strike; however, Queenstown Airport disagreed, claiming no birds were spotted on the airfield during the incident. The actual cause remains unknown, but bird strikes pose serious risks for aircraft, potentially causing plane damage and fatal incidents.
Bird strikes entail a collision between an aircraft and a bird, and they also extend to on-ground collisions with animals such as deer, rabbits, dogs and alligators. The initial bird strike was documented by Orville Wright in 1905, and these incidents now occur daily, fluctuating with bird migration patterns. The infamous birdstrike involving US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009 forced Captain Sully Sullenberger to perform an unpowered landing in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of migrating Canadian geese. In the period between 2008-2017, the Australian Transport Safety Board recorded 16,626 bird strikes, while the U.S Federal Aviation Administration reported 17,200 in 2022 alone.
Per the International Civil Aviation Organization, 90% of bird strikes occur near airports, particularly during takeoff, landing, and lower altitude flying periods. The impact of a bird strike varies based on multiple factors, including the aircraft type. In cases like the recent Virgin Australia flight, it might necessitate shutting down an engine. Single-engine aircraft face a higher risk, with bird strikes potentially being lethal. Since 1988, there have been 262 bird strike-related fatalities and 250 aircraft destroyed globally.
Pilots are trained to be more watchful for bird strikes during early mornings and sunsets. Radar technology can also help track bird flocks, however, this tech isn’t universally applicable as it’s ground-based. Major passenger jet manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, use turbofan engines which are susceptible to severe damage from bird strikes. To test these engines’ safety, a high-speed fresh chicken is fired at them while the engine operates at full thrust. Moreover, to keep birds and animals away from airport surroundings, certain grasses and plants are used that don’t attract the fauna, along with mimicking shotgun sounds with minor gas explosions.
This information was provided by Doug Drury, Professor/Head of Aviation at CQUniversity Australia, and was originally published by The Conversation. The views expressed are solely his and do not necessarily represent the views of this newspaper.
Originally published in The Fiji Times.